Class 




Rnnlc > -,^ 



SMITHSOKIAM. DEPOSIT 




iF^OQuois f ivE Matins and 




ssioN Sites. 1656-1684. by JohnS.Clark.i879 



E A Pv L Y O 11 A P T E P S 



OF 



CAYUGA HI8TOEY 



JESUIT MISSIONS IN GOI-0-GOUEN, 



1(35 6—1684. 



Also an account of the Sulpitian Mission among the 
Emigrant Cayugas, about Quinte Bay, in 1668. 



BY CIIAKLES IIAWLEY, D. D., 

rreddeid Cayuga County HMorical Society. 



WITH AN INTKOmiCTION 



By John Gilmary Shea, LL. D., 

Author of " IRxtory of Catholic JRsgion^ anwnr/ the Indian Triben of the U. »S'.," 

etc., d'C. 



AUBURN, N. Y. 

KNAI'P .t PKCK, P,OOK AND -lOl? I'ltlN'l'EHS. 
1 8 7 9 . 




?»<+- 



Couniry of ike HURON //tRIB€5 
Co7ii^ue/ed it/ tke iROQil\o 
aiout l6JfS. 




F^OQuois F'veNat.cns anoMiss,onSites.,656-,684. byJohnS.Cl 



ARK-I879 



? R E F A C E . 



When tlio writer begun the rcscarclies out of wliicli tlie following pages iiavo 
grown, lie did not anticipate tliat tlio work wo;,ld reacli its present proportions. 
His original design was simply to translate from tlie Rdations of the Jesuit Fath- 
ers at his conunaiid, sucli extracts as described tlieii' labors among the Cayngas 
whose canton, known to the French as Goi-o-gouen, was hirgely com[)riscd within 
the limits of the connty which bears tlieir name— and of special interest to the 
local liistorian as its earliest anmds and written by the hrst white men wlio trod 
its soil. The several translations were carefidlj' made for the purpose, and with 
tlic desire tiiat the work of these heroic and devoted men shcdd speak for itself. 
With this view, a series of articles, which first appeared in the Auburn Dally 
Advertiser, was prepared, but carrying the history of the .lission in detail no 
farther than 1672 (tlie Relations in the writer's possession closing willi that year) 
and they were subsequently gathered into a pamphlet as originally printed. 

The publication attracted attention outside the immediate locality for which it 
was intended; and a second series was undertaken at the suggestion and with 
the co-opct-ation of Dr. John G-ilmary Shea, the accomplislied historian of Catho- 
lic Missions amoivj th:i Lilian Tribes of the United States, who generously pro- 
posed to arrange and translate from tiie ampler material in his possession, the nar- 
rative of the Cayuga Mission from 1672, the point where it was left in the pre- 
vious publication, to its close. The translations made by Dr. Shea witli ihis view, 
are included in chapter YII of tlie present series and also cover the complete account 
of the Sulpitian Mission among the Emigrant Cayngas about Quintc Bay, wliich 
forms an important chapter in the religious historj- of tliis people. The proof 
sheets of the entire work have passed under his i-evision, and the Introduction, 
from his pen, happil}' interprets its scope and purpose. It gives rae great satis- 
faction to acknowledge this courtes}'-, and the invaluable service thus rendered 
in the interests of our local history, while the pleasant relations wliich lia\e 
sprung up in this mutual labor, are Viy no means among the least of its rewards. 

The opening chapter, containing the preliminaiy histor}' common to the 
several Iroquois Missions, appears for the first in tlic present edition, and is con- 
denseJ from the several Relations which cover that period. 



IV 

Tlio writer tukcs this opi)ortiiuity to renew his aclsiiowledgmcuts, in the prefa- 
tory note to the tirst edition, to Mr. Theodore V. Case of Anburn, for vahia- 
ble aid in llie work of translation, and to Mr. J,ohn II. Osborne, also of this eity, 
whose collection of rare volumes, maps, &c., illustrative of the early history of 
the country have been of essential use in the preparation of these papers, and 
whose assistance has been most serviceable in their publication. Ho is also un- 
der special obligations to Tien. John S. Clark, of Aul)urn, for the topogr.aphical 
and archa'ological information to be found in the several notes over his initials, he 
having given much time and careful study to the location of Iroquois towns and 
kindred researclies; also, for tlie map prepared expressly for the present work 
and embracing the territory with the places, routes and relative positions of the 
several Indian nations, referred to in the text. 

It is only necessary to ad J, that the whole work has been carefully revised, 
re-arranged and annotated; and contains, it is confidently believed, as full a narra- 
tive of these early and self sacrificing labors to Christianize the Cayugas, in ccm- 
mon with the other Iroquois nations, as it is possible to compile from existing 
sources. It is re-issued in tliis more complete form, not without the hope that 
it may contribute somewhat to a truer and more impartial estimate of what 
has been wrought centuries ago, on this ground, by men who forsook all and en- 
dured all, to win these fierce barbarians to the Cliristian Faith. C. H. 

AuBUUX, N. Y., June, 1879. 



INTRODUCTION. 



Tlie Jesuit Relations, or Re}K)rts of Missions conducted l)y the 
religious of the Society of Jesus in Canada, have had a curious 
history. Thev are a series of small volumes issued in France 
from l()o2 to 1()72, soon after the annual arrival in that country 
of the shi})S from Canachi, bearing, with the shipments of Amer- 
ican produce, the re})ort of the Superior of the Jesuit missions. 
These volumes were issued in cheap form, and seem to have cir- 
culated widelv among the pious, in some cases several editions 
ap}iearing. Tliev thus excited an interest in the American mis- 
sion, and led to the estaljlishment in Canada of the Sul})itians, 
the Ursuline and Hospital Nuns, as well as induced many to emi- 
o-rate to the country and settle there from religious motives. 
That thev contributed greatly to the colonization and ivlief of 
Canada is unquestionable. 

For many vears the influence of the Jesuits in Canada ^vas 
very great, but their strictness, and especially the stand taken l)y 
them against the sale of liquor to the Indians, arrayed a strong 
partv opposed to them with the Count de Frontenac at its head 
The Recollects were introduced to re[)lace the Jesuits as far as 
possible, and Indian missions under Sulpitians and secular priests 
were encouraged, while Frontenac's despatches, the writings of 
La Salle and his companions, as well as La Hontan and later 
travelers, united in assailing and depreciating the Jesuits and 
their labors. 

The Jesuit Relations drop})ed out of sight and were almost un- 
known, except as used by DuCreux or Charlevoix. When, how- 
ever, in ( )ur time collections of American books began t(^ be formed. 



VI 

a few of these Relations found their way to libraries. Ban- 
eroft's Ilistorv of the United States and Murrav't^ British Amer- 
ica, the Jirst works to use them to any extent as historical mate- 
rial, drew attention to theiu. The volumes, however, were scat- 
tered h\v and wide. They were books that no one had thought 
to treasure uj), and thirty years ago nothing approaching a com- 
})lete set was known to exist anywhere. A student liad to seek 
volumes where he could in a dozen dilTei-ent public and private 
collections, and de])end in many cases on manuscript co])ies oi" 
extracts when he was so fortunate as to lind e\'en them in the 
hands of some kind collector. 

Of one volume a single copy alone was known, and that liad 
been secured l)y the veteran Faribault for the Parliament Li- 
brary in Canada. That perished when the valuable collection of 
books was destroyed by a mc^b. Fortunately, Mr. James Lenox, 
of New York, had caused an accurate transcript to be made of 
it, and he re})rinted this Relation, as well as two others, of the 
very scarcest in the series. Dr. (3'Callaghan })repared a biblio- 
graphical account of the whole collection for the New York 
Historical Society, who printed it in their I'roeeeding.s. Tliis 
stimulated interest in the l)ooks, and the Jesuit Relations were 
sought l)y collectors with great avidity and in tlie competition 
rose to very high pi'ices. 

The Canadian government, however, reprinted the whole se- 
ries in three stout volumes, thus enabling students to obtain ac- 
cess to the Relations, which the bibliomaniac-^ were making it 
ruinous for any ordinary student to think of attem[)ting to ob- 
tain in the original fo]-m. 

While the old French volumes arc still the pride of a few 
choice li1)raries, the matter they contain is accessil)le to all and 
has been widelv consulted and used. Some indeed, hearing of 
the interest attached to these volumes, are disa})[)ointed when 



they come to examine tlieiii, and eonsider tlieii- value overrated. 
But tliey were not wi'itten witli any view oi' sn})})l\-iiiu- doen- 
inents for the liistory of a vast repnldieto wlioni l^i'ovidenee was 
to eontide so much of tliis continent. As tlie Jesuit missionaries 
toiled fearlessly through the wilderness in the Indian canoe or by 
the Indian trail, tlieir wildest fancy never studded the land with 
the thriving cities and l)usy agriculture of the future. They 
werezeahuTs missionaries, full of their work, pious, often enthusi- 
a-*ticand sanguine, and they wrote not to leave data for historians, 
but simply to edify and interest the })ious in France. Their Ee- 
lations are the work of many hands, thrown together hastily by 
the Superior of the Mission, with no attempt at literary effect, 
but they bear the impress of honesty and of being printed as 
they Avere written. The missions embraced Canada and the 
whole fnuitier, from Maine to Lake Superior and Illinois; and 
the Relations give information as to the vari(nis triljes, their 
language, ideas, relations and annals for nearly half a eenturv. 
When tested by other contem])oraneous documents thev bear 
scrutiny and afford us, to the extent of the informati<~)n they give 
incidentally, excellent data; while it is almost impossible to 
read them without feeling a personal interest in the educated 
men who faced such perils for a noble cause, and who record 
tlieir trials, hardships and the deaths of fellow laborers with 
such simplicity. 

The general historians of our country have felt the influence 
and drawn from this source chapters full of eloquence and beauty : 
tlic latest historian of our own State has used them freely, 
and thus invested his narrative with an interest which previous 
writers on New York could not command. 

But the Relations themselves acquire a new im[)ortance, and 
local histcu'v receives a valual)le addition in w(M-ks of which 
the present opens a ucw series. Here the long and patient re- 



vm 



search and topograiiUical knowledux- of the antiquarian aid the 
translator by determining the })()siti()n of everv mission, town 
and hamlet, t1ie direetion of trails, the position of friendly and 
hostile tril)es, and the narrative eomes with a fresh interest as 
we follow the missionary of two centuries ago in his labors on 
spots with which we are familiar, and with pleasure we listen to 
the story of his labors and his hopes, what he was doing for the 
cause of Christianity among the savage inhabitants of our land. 
Grand old Cayuga chiefs come u}) before us, sketched by a few 
traits and incidents, friends or opponents of the missions. We 
live in their midst, listen to their harangues, scan their pc:)licy, 
and watch their conduct, in peace and war. 

When the work which is liere done for Cayuga is accom- 
plished for each mission, maps will be })ossible which we can 
scarcely dream of now, and a translation of all the Relations be 
one of the greatest contrilmtion-^ to American History. 

Writers have been reproached for not giving ma})s fixing the 
sites of missions two centuries ago. But those wlio censured 
little knew the hours and days which had to be spent in deter- 
minino- the sites mentioned in this volume. Guesses and fancies 
would have been W(^rthless. Here are given the fruits of long 
and patient study. 

Cayuo'a here establishes hei' claim as the })ioneer in this de- 
partment of accurate and authentic study. 

JOIIX GlLMAUV SlIKA. 
Elizabeth. N. J., June i:i, 1879. 



EARLY CHAPTERS 



OF 



CAYUGA HISTORY 



Jesuit M-issioits Jimang; tlxj) @aij,ugas. 



It was in the 3'ear 1656, that the French Jesuit Fathers first 
attem})ted a mission among the Cayugas, one of the five nations 
then comprising the far-famed Iroquois League.^ The same year, 
and with concert of plan, missions were planted in the other can- 
tons with Onondaga'^ as the centre of operations, it being also the 
recognized capital of the confederacy. 

It had been for some time a cherished project with these zeal- 
ous pioneers, both in religion and civilization on this continent, to 
win these fierce and powerful nations to the Catliolic Faith and, at 
the same time, secure their friendship to the colony of New 
France, then aspiring to the mastery of the New World. The IIu- 
rons, a compact and numerous nation on the westei'n border of the 
French possessions in Canada, whose alliance to the crown of 
France had been secured by a similar polic)','' had been driven 
from their country b_y the Ii'oquois and reduced to a wretched 
remnant, a part of whom sought refuge near Qnebec, under the 



1 Its several cantons extended from east to west in the following order: Mohawks, Oneidas, 
Onondagas, Cayugas, Senecas, the last four corresponding in locality to the counties which 
bear their respective names. 

- This was the chief town of the Onondagas, situated on a considerable elevation between two 
deep ravines, formed by the west and middle branches of Limestone creek, in the present 
tovvn of Pompey, N. Y., two miles south of the village of Manlius. It contained at this 
time three hundred warriors, with one hundred and forty houses, several families often 
occupying a single house. Their cornfields extended for two miles north and south, and in 
width from a half to three fourths of a mile, interspersed ^vith their dwellings. The grand 
council chamber was here, in which all matters of interest common to the several nations of 
the League, were decided. This site was abandoned, about 1680.— J. S. C. 

3 The first missionaries among the Hurons were of the order of the Recollects, in 1615. 
The Jesuits came to their aid in 16i5. The mission was interrupted during the occupa- 
tion of Quebec by the English (1629-1632), but was resumed and maintained with signal 
heroism and success, until the destruction of the nation by the Iroquois in 1649, when the 
mission fell with it ; not, however, until five of the missionary Fathers had won the coveted 
crovs^n of martyrdom. Four of them, viz., Anthony Daniel, in 1648, John de Brebeuf, Ga. 
briel Lalemant, and Charles Gamier, in 1649, fell at their posts and shared the cruel fate 
which befell their converts, at the hands of their savage conquerors. Garnier's colleague, 
Father Chabanel, was, at the same time, tomahawked by an apostate Huron, who afterward 
confessed the deed. 



10 

protection of the French, while others were scattered among their 
western neighbors. The overthrow of the Hurons was quickly 
followed by the destruction of the Neuter nation occupying the 
territory on l)otli sides of the Niagara, and now the Eries, the 
only remaining barrier to Iroquois ambition on the west, had in 
turn become the objects of the same relentless sjnrit of conquest. 

This was in 1653. Besides this bloody w^ork with neighbor- 
ing tribes, the Iroquois had made frequent incursions upon the 
Canadian settlements, consisting of Quebec, Montreal and Three 
Eivers. But now they were ready for peace with the French, 
at least while they had on their hands this war with the Eries. 
Accordingly, in the summer of this year, sixty Onondagas, rep- 
resenting also the Cayugas and Senecas, appeared in sight of the 
fort at Montreal, shouting from their canoes that they came for 
peace. An Oneida delegation soon followed. The French, at 
first, suspected treachery and were slow to accept assurances of 
friendship so suddenly tendered, especially as bands of Mohawks 
were infesting Montreal and Three Kivers at the time. But ar- 
rangements were made for a council, at Quebec ; and in Febru- 
ary of the following year (16r)4), the embassy arrived prepared 
to conclude the desired peace. The council was convened, 
when the Onondaga chief, who headed the deputation, presented 
six large belts of wampum, indicating the principal points of his 
speech. 

The first was to calm the spirit of the French, and prepare 
their minds to receive without misunderstanding or offence what 
he had to say. 

The second was in token that his heart was upon his tongue, 
and his tongue in his heart, i. e., that all he was about to say was 
from a sincere desire for friendship and peace. 

The third represented a tree, he said, j)lanted in the midst of 
the great river St. Lawrence, opposite the fort of Quebec and 
the house of Onontio, whose top reaches above the clouds, to the 
end that all the nations of the earth could see it, and repose in 
peace under its shadow. 

The fourth opened a wide and deep abyss in which should be 
buried all past differences, and all persons who should attempt to 
disturb, or in any way violate the peace about to be concluded. 



11 

The iiftii was to take away the oloucls whicli had so long ob- 
scured the sun, referring to the false speeches of the Algonquins, 
and Montagnais, which like clouds had prevented the sweet light 
of day on them and on the French, and made darkness every- 
where. 

Finally, in the sixth present, they promised to bury deep in 
the earth the war kettle in which they had been accustomed to 
boil the flesh of captives taken in battle, since all their old ha- 
treds were now changed into love. 

Everything seemed to make for peace ; as if indeed the cloud 
was to be lifted wliich hung so darkly over the French settle- 
ments. " Yesterday," wrote Father Le Mercier, of the overtures 
the summer previous, " all was dejection and gloom : to-dav all 
is smiles and gaiety. On Wednesday, massacre, burning, pillage. 
On Thursday, gifts and visits as among friends. If the Iroquois 
have their hidden designs, so, too, has Grod." " There was noth- 
ing but joy and opening of heart," he writes of the council, " and 
the sun has no rays more benign than shone in the faces of these 
embassadors. But a dark night follows a bright day." It ap- 
pears that the Onondaga orator, who had made this fine speech 
in the council, had approached several of the Huron chiefs with 
a proposition that the following spring a colony of Huron fami- 
lies, under pretence of a desire to be nearer Montreal, should re- 
move to a point between that place and Three Elvers, where a 
party of Iroquois, to the number of five or six hundred would 
meet them, wdien the plan would be more fully disclosed, and all 
under pledge of inviolable secrecy. A similar project for a col- 
ony had come from the Mohawks. The Hurons at once sus- 
pected treachery, and one of then- chiefs disclosed the secret to 
the Grovernor General, while the council was yet in progress, and 
sought advice as to the answer they should give to this proposal, 
which had greatly disturbed them. " It is for thee now, Onontio, 
and not for us to speak," said the Huron : "We have been dead for 
four years, since our country was desolated. Death follows us 
every where. It is ever before our eyes. We live only in thee. 
We see only through thine eyes. We breathe only in thy per- 
son. Our thoughts are without reason only as thou givest it to 
us. It is then, for thee, Onontio, to draw us from these perils 
and tell us w^hat to do." 



12 

It was concluded that the French authorities should appear to 
concur in the enterprise, with the understanding that it should be 
postponed for at least a year; and the Huron chief, thus instruct- 
ed, replied to the embassador in a private conference, that the 
project would doubtless succeed beyond their present hopes ; that 
the French themselves were disposed to form a colony on the 
great Lake of the Iroquois ; and for this reason it would be bet- 
ter in all frankness to communicate to them the design, and not 
attempt to conceal so important a movement. The Iroquois as- 
sented, and it was arranged by the Hui-ons that the enterprise 
should be deferred for a year at least, and in the meantime a resi- 
dence should be provided for the Jesuit Fathers somewhere in 
the Iroquois country, and that then they would go willingly, 
with their wives and children. The Governor General gave his 
assent in a speech accompanied by six presents, the purport of 
which was that the Hurons must be left to act with entii'e fi'ee- 
dom, and go to whichever of the Iroquois cantons they desired, 
or back to their ancient country, or still farther, to remain with 
the French if they preferred. He suggested that the tree of 
peace, which the Onondaga orator had hxed opposite Quebec, be 
transplanted to Montreal, on the frontier, where it could be more 
readily seen by neighboring nations. He also urged harmony 
among the Iroquois themselves, that they might maintain peace 
with others, and skillfully used their own project of a Huron col- 
ony to excite the hope of each of the cantons that it might ob- 
tain the desired acquisition.' 

In response to these overtures of })eace, but as a precautionary 
step, it was concluded to send Father Simon Le Moyne, a veteran 
Huron missionary, as a special envoy to Onondaga to confirm these 
friendly proposals, before venturing either a mission or a colony in 
their country. Le Moyne left Quebec July 2, 1654. He was joined 
at Montreal by a 3^oung Frenchman, noted for both courage and 
piety, and taking two or three Indians as guides, started on his 
adventurous journey by way of the St. Lawrence, in a single 
canoe. Thn-tcen days were consumed in making their way up 
the river, struggling with the rapids and encountering heavy 

1 delation, 1654, Chap. II. The refeveiicfs to tlie Rdutloiix, unless otherwise indicated, are 
to edition printed at Quebec, 185S. 



13 

winds, which greatly retarded their pi-ogress. At iiiglit they 
would seek shelter in the woods, or, if moi'e convenient, under 
their inverted canoe, and sometimes in the bark hut they would 
build for the emergency. Game was plenty, and the large herds 
of elk they met seemed little disturbed by their presence. They 
reached Lake Ontario, July 30, but such was the violence of the 
wind that they were compelled to take to the islands in the vi- 
cinity, and travei-se them on foot, cai-ryi ng their luggage, provis- 
ions and. canoe on their shoulders. Tliey soon fell in with a par- 
ty of Iroqnois fishermen, who proved friendly and conducted Le 
Mojme and. his companions to their village, where the good Fath- 
er was met by several of his old Huron Christians, who recog- 
nized him with expressions of delight, and to whom he, in turn, 
gave the consolations of religion. From this point they took the 
usual course thi-ough the woods, reaching Onondaga on the fifth 
of August, after a journey of three weeks from Montreal.^ 

Le Moyne was received at the Iroquois capital with every 
■mark of respect and enthusiasm. They overwhelmed him with 
kind attentions, tempting him with the choicest luxuries of the 
season, such as roasting ears of the young corn, with a bread 
made of its pulj), than which they knew nothing more delicious. 
One would call him ''brother," another ''uncle," another "cous- 
in," while every face beamed a welcome. Familiar as the mis- 
sionary w\as with barbarous life and customs, he writes: "I never 
saw the like among Indians before." Deputies from the Onei- 
das, Cayugas and Senecas soon arrived ; and on the tenth of Au- 
gust the council was convened, by criers passing through the 
town proclaiming its purpose and summoning all to come to the 
cabin of Ondessonk," and listen to his words. After invoking the 
blessing of Heaven in solemn prayer, the sagacious Father, who 
was well versed in the arts of Indian diplomac}', displayed his 
presents and began his speech, which he tells us lasted two full 
hours, and in which he imitated the tone and manner of their 
own chiefs on such occasi(^ns. He caught the spirit of metaphor 
characteristic of their oratoiy, and addressed each of the nations 
represented in the council, as if he had always known their his- 

1 BelaHon, 1654, Chap. VI. 

■2 Huron name given to Le Moyne. 



14 

tory and been familiar with the deeds of their noted sachems and 
warriors, all of which drew from the dusky councillors repeated 
ejaculations of approval. In the eighth, ninth, tenth and elev- 
enth presents he gave to the four nations " each a hatchet for 
the war in which they were then engaged with their new ene- 
mies, the Eries." In another present lie encouraged them "to 
strengthen tlieir palisades that they might be prepared against 
every attack of the enemy ; " and in another he proposed " to 
daub their countenances, since it is the custom of the warriors 
never to go into battle except they paint their faces either black 
or red, or in divers colors, each having his own favorite color, 
like a particular uniform, to which he adheres until death." The 
nineteenth present, with which the eloquent Father closed his 
speech, was " to dry up the tears of the young warriors at the 
death of their great chief, Annercroas, who had just before fallen 
into the hands of the Eries." 

The reply of the orator, who spoke in behalf of the council, was 
all that could be desired. He was specially importunate that the 
French should select a spot for their colony " on the shores of 
the Great Lake, where they would dwell securely in the midst 
of the country of the Iroquois as they already dwelt in their 
hearts." Le Moyne added two presents to confirm this proposal ; 
and with this favorable termination of his mission, returned to 
Montreal, where he arrived on the seventh of September, having 
been absent nearly nine weeks.' 

He was followed, the next year (1655), by Father Joseph 
Ghaumonot, also an experienced Huron missionary, accompanied 
by Father Glaude Dablon, recently come from France. They 
arrived at Onondaga on the fifth of November; and the fifteenth 
of the same month was appointed for convening a general coun- 
cil and the delivery of the customary presents. At ten o'clock 
in the morning of that day, the preparations having been com- 
menced, and while the prayers were being recited amid the still- 
ness of the vast assembly, news came that the embassy from Cay- 
uga had entered the village. The announcement put an end to 
this part of the ceremony, in order that the deputation might.be 
'•eceived with the formalities due to their I'ank, 

' ^Belation, 1654, Chai). VII. 



15 

The Fatlicr made them two com pi hn en tar y presents to which 
they responded with the same number, and adding a tliird, de- 
sh'ed that further ceremonies might be deferred until the morrow, 
as the day was already advanced. It was so arranged ; and 
the next day was occupied in conferring the presents, accom- 
panied by a speech from Chaumonot, which produced a marvel- 
ous effect and called out various expressions of wonder and 
delight from the savages. " The Dutch," they said, " never 
spoke to us of heaven or hell,*' implying even that their language 
had no w^ords by which such ideas could be expressed. As the 
assembly broke up the chief of the Cayugas (Saonchiogwa) as- 
sured the Father of his desire to take him as a brother, which 
was accepted as a mark of the highest confidence. 

The next day (1 7th) was devoted to responses from the rep- 
resentatives of the several nations to the presents, when the chiefs 
and others crowded around the missionary Fathers, with their 
songs of welcome. ^'■H(qypy land!'''' they sang, ^^happy land! in 
ivhich the French are to dwell^' with the chorus led by the chief 
of the Oiiondagas, '•'•Olad tidings! glad tidings!'' when he de- 
clared : ''It is well iliat we have spoken together : it is well that ice 
have a heavenly '^message.'' A third chant ran: "/ salute thee^ 
my brother ; I salute thee^ it is loell you have come to us. Oh the 
charming voice t/ioic hast.'' They also sang: '■'■Farewell to war: 
Farewell to the hatchet: until 7'iow, loe have been enemies; hence- 
fortJi we are brothers, yes.^ toe are truly brotliers." 

These several songs were followed by four beautiful presents, 
and the significance of each explained — after which the chief of 
the Cayugas arose and made a speech of thanks, for a good half 
lioui', characterized by remarkable eloc[uence and sagacity. He 
said that both himself and his nation held tliemselves under great 
obligations to Onontio' for the honor he had done them in their 
adoption ; and that never should they act unworthily of this hon- 
orable relationship, nor degrade so illustrious a distinction. Never 
had they been adopted except by persons of rank; but the 

1 Derived from Onnonte, signifying a iiioinita'in. It was <a literal translation bj' the Hurons 
and Iroquois, of the name of M. de Montmagny (Moiw Magivi/t) who was Governor of Canada 
from 11)36 to 1648. and signified Greut Mountain. It continued to be applied to his successors 
in ofHce, and in like manner to the King of France, whom they called Grand Onontio. The 
English wrote it Yonnondio. 



16 

crowning gloiy of all their alliances had been conferred by On- 
ontio. And in token of his o-ratification at this srreat honor, he 
struck up a song as pleasing as it was novel. All his compan- 
ions sang in harmony with him, keeping time by striking their 
mats, while he danced in the inidst of them with violent move- 
ment, after the Indian fashion. 

Giving play to every part of the body he gestured with his 
feet, his hands, his head, eyes and mouth, as he sang. A, a, ha, 
Gaiandere, gaiandere^ 0, o, Gaiandere, gaiandere, equivalent (says 
the Father) to /o, w, iriumphe, in the Latin tongue; and then, E, 
e, //e, Gaiandere, gaindere, 0, o, lio, Gaianderc, gatandere. He ex- 
plained the word Gaiandere to signify what they deemed most 
excellent ;' and added that what others called the Faith should 
be named among them Gaiandere^ in proof of which he made the 
first present of beads." 

Dablon returned to Quebec early in November, leaving Chau- 
monot to remain at Onondaga for the winter. He was impressed 
with the good disposition of the Iroquois and favored compliance 
with their demand for a mission and French settlement, to be es- 
tablished among them the following spring. The whole subject 
was one of anxious deliberation at Que])ec, with alternate hopes 
and fears. With the fate of their great Huron mission fresh in 
mind, Father Le Mercier, Superior of the Missk)ns, writes thus 
of the projected movement among the Iroquois : " It is their fury 
that has desolated the country of the Algonquins and Hurons 
while they were fast becoming a Christian people. They cruelly 
burned both pastors and the flock. Bat while the blood of the 
martyrs is making itself lieard in heaven, we find ourselves called 
to i-enew our efforts to spread the Faith, by these cruel barbarians 
themselves who would seem to exist in the Avorld, for the sole 
purpose of opposing it. In a word, the Iroquois have pressed us 
to come and instruct them, demanding with equal urgency that 
a colony should be planted on their Lake (Ontario) wdiich should 
be to them for an asylum and between them and us a lasting bond 
of peace. * * ''^ The promise having been made to them for 



1 Gaiandere.-'em, nobility ; gaiandei; man orwoiium of ranli. Bniyas, Mohawk Iiailic((h. 
p. 58. 
•^Relulioii, 1050, Cliai). VII. 



tlie next spring, their lieart has not l)een able to eoiitain itself 
for joy. Their countenance has been more expressive than their 
tongue, and God has caused us to hope tiiat in some war He 
will secure his glory and our good in the event.'"' 

About this time, a Huron prisoner who had escaped from Onon- 
daga, brought the report that the whole ])roject was an Irocjuois 
plot to allure the French with the Hurons into their country, to be 
followed by a general massacre, when once in their power. The 
Huron chiefs took the alarm, and though expecting to accom- 
pany the mission in accordance with the pledge made to the On- 
ondagas, as already related, not only refused to furnish a colon v 
from their own people, but implored the Fj-ench for the love they 
bore them not to expose themselves to such manifest perils. In 
the meanwhile the Mohawks, jealous of the preference shown to 
the Onondagas in the location of the settlement, gave indications 
of their displeasure, which boded nothing but evil.'' 



1 Relation, 1654, Chap. VIII. 

2The place first selected for the French settlement appears to have been on the south bank 
of Salmon river, at the present site of Port Ontario, about a mile from the Lake, afterward 
known as Cuhilionovage. The journal describing Le Moyne's return journey in 1654, after 
leaving Oswego river, says : " We arrived at the place which is fixed upon for our house 
and a French settlement, beautiful prairies, good fishinjj. a resort of all nations, where I 
found new Christians, who confessed and inspired me with devotion."' The same 
place is mentioned by Cbaumonot and Dablon \\\ 1654, Oct. 29: "We arrived about nine 
o'clock in the morning at Otihatangue (the name of the rivers. They presented us with a re- 
past of welcome. Otihatangue is a river which flows into Lake Ontario, narrow at its 
month, but much wider above. It abounds in meadows wliich it fertilizes, and divides into 
hilly and flat islands, all suitable for sowing grain." (Selation, 1654.) An Indian town is 
indicated at this point on a map of " Pere Coi'onelli, Parjs, 1689," described as "Cahihono- 
vague, or La Famine, where the greater part of the Iroquois disembark to trade their 
beaver."' Another map of 1679 says, "it is the place where most of the Iroquois and Loups 
land to go in the beaver trade at New York." In 1684, Mons. de la Barre, Governor of Can- 
ada, landed with his army on the opposite side of the river nearer the lake at the point 
now known as Selkirk. The ])lace was described by him in his ofticial report as " La Fam- 
ine, a port favorable for fishing and hunting and four leagues from the river of Onnontague '• 
(at Oswego). Col. Hist. N. Y., IX, 242, Charlevoi.x visited the place in 1721. In describ- 
ing it he says : "Famine Bay, thus named since M. de la Barre, Governor General of Xew 
France, had like to have lost all his army here, by hunger and distemper, in going to make 
war with the Iroquois." Charlevoix evidentlj' err.s as to the origin of the name, for it was 
attached to the locality many years previous to M. de la Barre's campaign, and undoubtedly 
resulted from the sufferings experienced by Mons. Du Puys and his companions while on 
their way to establish the French colony in the country of the Onondagas in 1656. For many 
years historians considered Famine Bay as identical with Hungry Bay (now Henderson.) sev- 
eral miles north, but at the present time the best authorities concede that the Famine Bay of 
the French was the extreme south-eastern angle of Lake Ontario, and that the Grand Fam- 
ine, and Petite Famine rivers, correspond respectively to Great and Little Salmon rivers of 
the present day. The great central trail of the Mohawk Valley, if prolonged westward in a di- 
rect line from Rome, would follow substantially the line of the Rome and Watertown R. R. as 



18 

After a review of the whole ground and in the liglit of these 
fresh disclosui-es, it was considered too late to retreat, notwith- 
standing the dangers v-isible on all sides, as a refusal now to car- 
ry out the negotiations already agreed upon, would bring upon 
the French settlements the combined fury of the Iroquois na- 
tions, while at the worst the I'esult of the present enterprise 
would be the sacrifice of the few in place of the manj^ It was, 
moreover, the oidy door opened to them to maintain peaceful re- 
lations begun with these savages and for the spread of the Faith ; 
and on the 17th of May, 1656, the entire company embarked at 
Quebec in two large shallops, with a number of canoes, for On- 
ondaga. It was composed of the missionaiy Fathers Rene 
Menard, Claude Dablon, James Fi-emin, and Francis Le Mercier, 
the Father Superior, and Brothers Ambrose Broas and Joseph 
Boursier; ten soldiers, with l>etween thirty and forty French col- 
onists under command of M. DuPu_ys. Ilurons, Onondagasand 
Senecas completed the party. They had a long and perilous jour- 
ney. On reaching Lake Ontario they had exhausted their provis- 
ions, and the fishing being poor, they wei'e without food for six 
days except a small beriy found in the woods, and were saved from 
starvation only by a bountiful supply of Indian corn and sal- 
mon despatched from Onondaga whither they had sent a courier 
for relief. This was while at oi" near the jwint still called Fam- 
ine Bay, from whence the whole flotilla proceeded by way of 

far as Salmon River and from theuce continuing on the soutli bank of tlie liver, reach Lake 
Ontario at Cahihonovage. This was tlie most convenient and direct route for the Orange 
(Albany) traders to reach the numerous Indian tribes of the great lakes via Quinte Bay. In 
like manner the great thoroughfare of the French, to tlicir possessions in the south west, 
passed through this point, the forty miles along the eastern end of lake Ontario being com- 
mon to the two routes. This accounts for its being described as the place of resort of all na- 
tions, and for this reason was considered as second only in importance to Cataraquy, (Kings- 
ton.) In the great strife for dominion between the French and English colonies, the French 
sought to attract and control the western trade, by the establishment, in 1673, of the trading 
post and fort at Cataraquy. The English, no less mindful of their interests, found means to 
divert this trade to the south shore of Lake Ontario, and thence to their market. This led to 
the expedition of Denonvillc against the Senecas, in 1687, and the construction of Fort Niag- 
ara. In 1727 the Marquis de Beauharnois. claimed that the French, at some time previous, had 
a fort of settlement at La Famine, (Col. Hist. V, 827) which Gov. Burnet, in answer, says 
wits abandoned before the treaty of Utrecht (1T12). (Col. Hist. V, 829.) The map of Col. Romer 
shows a fort on the bank of the river at Oswego a.s early as 1700 ; and Gov. Dougan, in 1687, 
says that M. de la Barre came to Cahihonovage, where the Indians would have me build a fort. 
(Doc. Hist. Ill, 475.) From these accounts it appears that the French had a fort, or settle- 
ment, at or near this point, at some time previous to 1712, that the English were solicited by 
the Five Nations to locate there, but probably considering Oswego as preferable, concluded 
to establish the English post at that point.— J. S. C. 



19 

the Oswego river and entered Lake Ganentaa the eleventh of 
Julv, tirine; a salvo of 2;uns which made the forests resound 
with its echoes, to the delight and astonishment of the crowds of 
savages along its banks. 

A grand council was soon assembled to confirm the alliance, 
and Father Chaumonot, who had been on the ground tlirough the 
previous wintei', was the spokesman for his missionary brethi-en 
and their companions. His speech on the occasion is described 
as one of remarkable eloquence, in which he disclosed, with en- 
tire frankness and characteristic earnestness, the design of their 
coming. '• It is not trade " he said "that brings us here. Our 
pm-pose is a more lofty one. Do you think that yom- beaver 
skins can pay ns for all the toils and dangers of a long and weary 
voyage? Keep them, if you like, for the Hollanders; and if 
any fall into our hands, we shall use them only for your service. 
We seek not the things that perish. It is for the Faith that we 
have left our country ; it is for the Faith that we have forsaken 
parents and friends ; it is for the Faith that we have crossed the 
ocean and left the great ships of France to embark in your little 
canoes. It is for the Faith that we have left our comfortable 
houses to live in your hovels of bark. It is for the Faith that 
we have denied ourselves the food that is natural to us, for that 
which the beasts of our country would scarcely touch." And 
here dis})laying a large and beautiful belt most artistically de- 
signed,' he continued : 

"It is for the Faith that I take in my hands this rich present 
and open my month to remind you of the pledges you gave at 
the time you came to Quebec, to conduct us into your country. 
You with great solemnity promised to give ear to the words of 



I The Onondagas have preserved w^ith great care to the present tiiiic, the ancient wampum 
belts of the Confederacy. Those associated with the flrst union and league of the Five Na- 
tions are looked upon with peculiar reverence and held as sacred treasures. Among these is 
one about four feet in length, composed principally of purple shell beads of the richest hues, 
and for this reason esteemed as of great value. At one end of this belt is a rude representa- 
tion of a man, and at the other that of a cross, with a narrow white stripe connecting the 
two. The legend of this belt as explained at this day is as follows : " Great many years ago, 
" a company from Canada presented this belt, desiring that missionaries from the Roman 
" Catholic Church might be settled among the Five Nations, and erect a chapel at Onondaga, 
•' and that the road (represented by the white stripe) sliould be continually kept open and 
" free between them." In examining this belt and listening to the traditions connected with 
it, I was strongly impressed with the idea that it was the identical one presented bj' Chaumo- 
not on this occasion.— J. S. C. 



20 

the great God. They are in iny moutli. Listen to them. I am 
only His voice. We ai'e messengers whom He has sent to tell 
you that His Son became man, for the love of you ; that this man, 
the Son of God, is the Prince and Master of men ; that He has 
prepared in heaven eternal joys for those who obey Him and 
kindled the fires of hell for those who will not receive his word. 
-;<- * -X- j£ yQ^^ reject it, whoever you are, Onondaga, Seneca, Mo- 
hawk, Cayuga or Oneida, know that Jesas Cln-ist who inspires my 
heart and mj^ voice will plunge you one day into hell. Avert 
this crime ! Be not the author of your own destruction ! Accept 
the truth ! Listen to the voice of the Omnipotent ! "' 

Early in August an aged chief from Cayuga, an intelligent 
man and still engaged in public affairs, presented a re(|uest on 
behalf of his nation, that one of the Fathers might be sent to in- 
struct them in the Faith with the assurance that a chapel would 
be provided, and that this was the desii'e of the whole people. 
Father Menard was accordingly sent, with two Frenchmen, and 
became the guest of Saonchiogwa the chief of the canton, and 
the same that responded to Chaumonot and Dablon in the coun- 
cil of the ]:)revious year. 

1 Rdatioii 1657, Chap. V. 



11. 

The Cayuga Mission now determined upon as part of the gen- 
eral pohcy, ah-eady indicated, was confided to the care of Father 
Rene Menard, who for nine years had been a missionary amono- 
the Hurons, and for devotion and tact was regarded as second to 
none among his codaborers. The following narrative of his 
work in founding tlie mission, is from Chapter XVI of the Hela- 
iion for 1657, viz. : 

CONCERNING THE PUBLICATION OF THE FAITH A^IONG THE 
CAYUGA IROQUOIS. 

Having adopted, immediately on our arrival in this country, 
the Onondagas as brothers, and the Cayugas and Oneidas as 
children,^ it became necessary, for the preservation of this alli- 
ance, to visit them in order to make them presents, wdiich we 
shall be obliged to do each year, to render our relationship with 
them serviceable and desii*able. This was to us a very agreea- 
ble necessity, as it opened the way for the proclamation of the 
Gospel in conferring our presents, after the manner in which we 
had happily commenced our labors. 

It was with this design that Fathers Chaumonot and Menard 
left (Onondaga) at the end of the month of August in the year 
1656 for Cayuga,- where they arrived after a journey of two 



1 The PMve Nations, wrote Count Zinzendoif, nearly a hundred years hvter (174-2), are di- 
vided into fathers, or children, or brethren, or members of the covenant ; and such as do not 
belong to some one of these classes, they call cousins. He adds that the Mohawks, Onon- 
dagas and Senecas are called fathers. The two other nations which are styled children are 
the Cayugas and Oneidas ; and when at any time they ha\e general proposals made them 
about Christianity they give for answer that thoy will follow the Onondagas and do the same 
as they. — Merrwi^ials of Moravian Church 1, 124. 

2 Goi-o-gouen, the site of the Mission of St. Joseph, the principal vilLige of the Cayugas. 
appears to have been located at this time about three and a half miles south of Union Sprino-s. 
near Great Gully Brook. Thiohero or St. Stephen, ten miles distant, was on the east side of 
Seneca river at the northern extremity of Cayuga Lake, the Salt Springs described by Father 
Eaffeix hi 1672, being a mile and a half north west of Thiohero and about a half mile north of 
the Seneca river R. R. bridge. The archwological remains in the vicinity of Goi-o-gouen in- 
dicate different locations occupied at different periods, one of which was on a point at the 
junction of two ravines about four miles from the lake ; this was very ancient, and probablv 
occupied in the pre-historic age. According to Dr. Lewis H. Morgan, the locality known 
as the "Residence Reservation," was called in the Seneca dialect Ga-ya-ga-an-ha. Sever- 
al other dialected variations appear to have been used, Onnio, Onioen, Ouen,— all, apparently, 



22 

days; and that Father Chaurnonot having made a brief sojourn 
there, proceeded to the country of the Senecas, leaving Fatlier 
Menard to the labors of founding the church about to be formed. 
This is what he has sent to us : 

The antipathy toward the faith and our persons, which the 
Hurons had created among the natives of the country, persuad- 
ing them that we brought with us sickness and misfortune to the 
places we visited, caused us to be received quite coolly, and ren- 
dered our presents, made for the sake of the Faith, worthless in 
their esteem/ Nevertheless, the men of authority," who out of re- 
gard for their temporal interests, would not break with us, and 
trusting that an experiment of the Faith would not endanger 
the lives of their slaves, set them at work four days after our 
arrival, to build for us a chapel, on which they employed 
themselves so diligently, that in two days it was iu a condition 
to receive the Christians. After it had been furnished and. 
adorned witli the most beautiful mats, I there exposed the pic- 
ture of our Lord, and that of our Lady ; this was a spectacle the 
novelty of which so greatly surprised our barbarians that they 
came in crowds to consider it, and gaze upon the countenance 
and movement of the two pictures. I thus had abundant oppor- 
tunity to explain our mysteries; and so inquisitive were thej' 
about the pictures, that each day was but catechetical instruc- 
tion from morning till night ; the result of which Avas, that they 
were so subdued in spirit that in a few days, we had many neo- 
phytes not only of Hurons and slaves, but also from the natives 
of the countr}*. 



referable to the original Huron ■words, signifying, ^j^o/Ve of the great tobacco jnpe. In their 
own language, according to Greenhalgh in 1677, the French called the Cayugas Les Petuneurs. 
This IS an obsolete word, with a similar signification equivalent to "-tobacco 'users.'''' The 
totem of the Cayugas was a calumet, or great tobacco ]>ipe, and their chief sachem is often 
called Sanun-awean-towa, signifying the tongue, or voice, of t/i£ great }npe. On the return 
of the Cayugas after the destruction of their towns in 1779, in Gen. Sullivan's campaign, they 
appear to have established their castle, one and a half miles north of Union Springs, where 
it appears on several early maps. The early French writers applied ;tlie term Goi-o-gouen, 
also to the country and canton of the Cayugas.— J. S. C. 

1 This superstition that the Missionary Fathers caused all their misfortunes was one great 
obstacle to success among the Hurons, and often brought the missionaries themselves into 
great peril. Menard had often encountered it, and he does not appear to be surprised at find- 
ing that the old prejudice, as created by these Huron captives, had preceded him at Cayuga. 

'•i Anciens, the word used to denote the chiefs of the council in distinction from the war 
chiefs. 



23 

Many brought their children to me for Baptism ; and aided 
me in teaching them the prayers, by repeating them after me . 
and in a short time grace wroiight such marvelous changes, that 
the little children, who at first made me the constant object of 
their ridicule and sport, now rendered me the offices of good an- 
gels, conducting me into the cabins, attending me wherever I 
visited, and giving me the names of those I baptized, as well as 
the names of their parents ; which these barbarians are accus- 
tomed to conceal from us, believing that we record their names 
that we may send them to France, and there procure their death 
by magic. 

The providence of God gave me three excellent teachei's for 
acquiring the language. They are brothers, natives of the coun- 
tr}^, and of good natural dispositions. Their kindness in inviting 
me to their houses, and the patience and assiduity witli which 
they have instructed me, very soon qualified me to instruct them, 
and by means of the pictures, which greatly excited their curi- 
osity, lead them to apprehend our mysteries. 

The first adult person that I judged capable of baptism, was 
an old man eighty years of age, who, having been touched of 
God on hearing me instruct a Christian, desired me, two daj^s 
after, to visit him, being to all appearance nigh unto death. I 
had no hesitation in according to him baptism, finding in him 
all tlie dispositions of a soul chosen for heaven, in the way to 
which he has had opportunity to prepare himself. 

The second adult tliat I baptized, was a cripple whose face 
was covered with a cancer, which rendered him horrible to the 
sight. This poor afflicted one received me with a joy, equalled 
only by the fervor of desire he had evinced that I should visit 
him, and applied himself so faithfully to retain the prayers and 
instructions, that I soon conferred upon him l^aptism in our 
chapel. Perhaps these graces, which God has wrought in him, 
are the fruits of the charity that lie manifested for Fathers Bre- 
beuf and Lalemant some time before. He told me that he was 
a witness of their death, and having by his valor acquitted him- 
self with credit among his fellow warriors on that same day in 
which he had slain with liis own hand eight Hurons and taken 
five others prisoners, he had pit}' on these two captive Fathers, 



24 

and had bought them of the Mohawks for two beautiful wam- 
]uim belts, with the design of returning them to us in safety : 
but that soon their captors gave back to him these pledges, re- 
claimed their prisoners and burned them with all imaginable 
furv.' 

This poor Lazarus, as .1 have named him in baptism, is much 
esteemed in the canton ; and he is the first support that it 
pleased God to give to tliis little Church, which he augments con- 
tinually in attracting others to the Faith, through the zeal of his 
discourse and his example. 

The enemy of the Gospel, unable to endure its progress, has 
not wanted for calumnies with which to trouble the Christians. 
Our faith is accused of being the murderer of all who profess it ; 
and the death of several Christians at Onondaga having given 
occasion for this delusion of the savages, the speech of a certain 
chief, an enemy of our religion, made at a council, served to ex- 
cite still more their prejudices. So that not only many natives 
of the country, judging it was safer to believe what this man of 
authority among them said than to put faith in the totally op- 
]iosite experience of our ancient Hurons, have begged me to re- 
gard it well for them to omit attendance at prayers, until their 
fear of me sliould abate ; but also they accuse the Faith of the 
French of all the evils, both public and private, with which they 
a]ipear to be afflicted. This it is, that a certain apostate endeav- 
ored to make these barbarians believe, citing the Hollanders for 

1 On the' 16th of March, 1649, at daybreak, an army of a thousand Iroquois burst upon the 
Huron town of Taenhatentaroii, the mission station of St. Ignatius, whicli, after a resolute 
but ineffectual defence was involved In a general massacre. The two missionaries, the vet- 
eran Brebeuf and Gabriel Lalemant, whils engaged In ministering to the wounded and dying, 
fell into the hands of the Iroquois, who, after tearing out their nails, forced them through the 
gauntlet of a double row of savages, dealing their furious blows on every side, to the place 
of torture. Each was bound to a stake. The hands of Brebeuf were cut off. and the body 
of Lalemant pierced with awls and pointed irons. Red hot hatchets were thrust under the 
arm pits and between tlie thiglis of the sufferers, and around the neck of Brebeuf they hung a 
collar of the heated weapons. As the voice of the old Huron missionary was heard above the 
din, consoling his converts and proclaiming the judgments of (Jod upon the unbeliever, his 
enraged tormentors crushed in his mouth with a stone, cut off his nose and thrust a burning 
brand into his throat ; and as if this was not enougli they tore off liis scalp, and thrice, in de- 
rision of baptism, poured scalding water upon his head. Then, after hacking oft' his feet, 
they tore out his heart and devoured it. The gentle Lalemant was wrapped in pieces of 
bark, which were set on Are, and after a series of tortures similar to those which had been 
inflicted on Brebeuf, they tomahawked him, leaving the charred and mangled bodies of their 
Tictims among the ashes of the town.— See Shea's HUtorij of Vatlwllc Mlmotis, &c., 188-191 ; 
also Relation, 1649, Chap. Ill, IV. 



25 

proof of what he said, when he asserted that the children of the 
Iroquois died two years after their baptism ; and that the Chris- 
tians either broke a leg, or pierced their foot with a thorn, or be- 
came emaciated, or vomited up the soul with the blood, or were 
attacked with some other signal malady. 

If our reputation is thus calumniated, our life is in no greater 
safety. A warrior of my acquaintance, having come to lodge in 
our cabin, has given me no little anxiety. For having entered 
three nights in succession, with a species of possession which ren- 
ders him furious, he has attempted to take my life ; and would, 
without doubt, have succeeded in his purpose if he had not been 
prevented by our host. 

I was threatened with death, after a more haughty fashion, by 
a young man, who, after having heard me instruct a catechu- 
men, very sick, whom I wished to prepare for death, said to me 
that I was a sorcerer of whom it was necessary to rid themselves ; 
that I caused to live or die such as I pleased ; and that it was as 
easy for me to heal this man, as to lead him to heaven. Was 
not this an agreeable reproach ? ' 

Nevertheless, these difficulties, raised by the Evil One, have 
not prevented the faith from gaining day by day upon the con- 
fidence of the people ; nor that I should be heard everywhere ; 
nor our chapel from being filled with catechumens ; and finally, 
that I should not baptize daily either children or adults. 

This is what the Father has informed us during the two 
months he has had charge of the mission, having been obliged 
to leave there and return and join his labors with those of the 



iThe persecution of the Jesuit Fathers as sorcerers was common among the Hurons. In a 
house of Ossossane, a young Indian rushed suddenly upon Father Francis Du Peron and lift- 
ed his tomahawk to brain him, when a squaw caught his hand. Paul Ragueneau wore a cru- 
cifix from which hung the image of a slcull. An Indian, thinking it a charm, snatched it 
from him. The priest tried to recover it, when the savage, his eyes glittering with murder, 
brandished his hatchet to strike. Ragueneau stood motionless, waiting the blow. The as- 
sailant forbore and withdrew, muttering. Pierre Chaumonot was emerging from a Huron 
town, named by the Jesuits St. Michel, where he had just baptized a dying girl, when her 
brother, standing hidden in the doorway, struck him on ihe head with a stone. Chaumonot, 
severely wounded, staggered without falling, when the Indian sprang upon him with a toma- 
hawk; but tlie bystanders averted the blow. A noted chief, in the town of St. Louis, assailed 
Le Mercier, witli the violence of a madman, charging upon him all the miseries of the nation, 
and seizing a Are brand from the Arc, shook it in the Jesuit's face and told him that he should 
be burned alive. Le Mercier met him with looks as determined as his own, till, abashed at 
his undaunted front and bold denunciations, the Indian stood confounded. — Parkman's 
Jesuits in North America, 124-5. 



26 

two other Fathers at Onondaga, where tliej have established the 
foundation and the seminary of all the other missions among the 
Iroquois. 

Since then, however, at that same place, the Father having re- 
turned there accompanied by five or six French and the more 
prominent of the village, who had come here to beg him to re- 
turn, he has been received with all the eclat imaginable. Hav- 
ing fonnd the chapel in the same condition in which he left it, 
he resumed prayers on the day of his arrival ; and so great was 
the zeal manifested l)y the convehs and the catechumens, that 
the Father writes that this church is not less pi-omising than that 
of Onondaga." 

In addition to 'this account of the labors of Menard at Cayuga, 
during the yeai- he was there, and the dangers to which he was 
exposed, we find»in Cliap. VIII of the Relation 1662-3, written 
after his death, this passage alluding to his connection with the 
mission : '' His courage was equal to his zeal. He had seen 
without fear the Iroquois rushing upon him knife in hand to cut 
his throat, while laboring for their conversion in the village of 
Cayuga. Others in the same place had lifted their hatchets to 
cleave his skull, but he preserved his calmness. He met, with a 
benign countenance, the insults of the little children who hooted 
at him in the streets, as if he were a lunatic. 

"But this generous Father gloried with the apostle in being 
counted a fool for Jesus' sake, that in the very pangs of persecu- 
tion, he might give birth to this Iroquois church founded by 
him and which, in a short time, grew to the number of four hun- 
dred Christians, with the hopeful prospect of converting the en- 
tire hourg^ had he not been arrested in the midst of tliis work. 
This was when we were obliged to abandon the Iroquois mis- 
sions in consequence of the fresli murders connnitted by these 
treacherous savages, on our frontier settlements. Thus was he 
forced to abandon this bountiful harvest, the first fruits of which 
he had offered to heaven, in the death of many little ones and 
also of adults, whom he had baptized. It was like taking his 
heart from his body, or tearing a loving mother from her children." 
We have in the Relation of 1659-60 an account of the last la- 
bors of this devoted missionar}^ In 1659, two years after he 



was forced to leave Cayuga at the breaking up of the Iroquois 
missions, Menard, then at Quebec, was selected to found a mis- 
sion among the Sioux, who, with other western tribes had desired 
commerce with the French that they might gain the means to 
resist the Iroquois. He was commissioned to visit Green Bay 
and Lake Superior, and at some convenient inlet establish a resi- 
dence as a missionary center for the surrounding nations. The 
enterprise was regarded as one involving peculiar exposures and 
perils from the rigor of the climate and the pitiless barbarity of 
the savage ; notwithstanding which, this aged man, obedient to 
the vows of his order, and trusting, as he said, "in the Provi- 
dence which feeds the little birds of the desert, and clothes the 
wild flowers of the forest," went forth into the wilderness to scat- 
'ter the seeds of truth which could only be sown in tears. 

He appears to have had a premonition that this would prove 
his last work, as writing in haste from Three Rivers, August 27, 
1660, to a dear friend, he says : " In three or four months you 
may add my name to the memento of the deacV'^ After a journey 
crowded with hardships and peril, he reached in the month of Oc- 
tober, the bay which he named St. Theresa, where he remained 
eight months, when he yielded to the entreaties of a wretched 
company of Huron Christians, refugees on Black River, who 
implored him to come to them in their misery, lest they should 
lose altogether a knowledge of the faith ; and against the expostu- 
lation of both the French and his neophytes, the aged Father 
departed with a single attendant, a Frenchman, for the bay of 
Chegoimegon on Lake Superior by the way of Keweena Lake. 

About the tenth of August (1661), while making a portage, 
Menard became separated from his companion, who was trans- 
porting the canoe, and missing his way w^as lost in the forest and 
was never again seen. His faithful attendant, after a fruitless 
search, shouting and firing his gun repeatedly in the hope that 
the poor Father might be attracted by the noise, started for the 
nearest Huron village, to procure help at any cost; but, unfor- 
tunately, he himself lost his way, and only reached the village 
two days after, under the guidance of an Indian whom he 



1 Relation 1600, p. 30, in which the letter is giveu in full. 



28 

chanced to meet in his wanderings. It was some time before he 
could make the savages understand him, unable as he was to 
speak a word of their language. At last, however, he succeeded 
by signs and gestures, in making known his sad errand, and in 
assuring them that they would be liberally rewarded for any as- 
sistance they might render in searching for the lost Father — when 
the whole village was thrown into sudden alarm by a cry to 
arms, as the enemy was at their doors, and in the confusion, the 
last hope of continuing the search dissipated. Some time after, 
the cassock of the lost missionary, was seen in the possession of 
an Indian ; but he would not acknowledge that he had found the 
body, lest suspicion should rest upon him that he had dealt the 
fatal blow. Other articles used in worship, belonging to the 
Father, were seen in an Indian cabin; but no satisfactory clue 
could be discovered as to the time or mode of his death. A 
small piece of dried meat which he had with him would suffice 
to appease his hunger for two or three days only; and the most 
probable supposition is that he died of starvation. But whatever 
doubt there may hang over the circumstances of his death, none 
can rest upon the sincerity and fervor of his apostolic zeal, or the 
heroism of his self-sacrifice, whether the lot fell to him to be the 
first to plant the cross among the Cayugas, or to bear it to the 
nations not less fierce that dwelt by the great maritime lakes 
of the^"distant west. 



Ill 



The first missions among the Iroquois were of short duration. 
The settlement of the French with the Onondagas, instead of on 
the banks of Lake Ontario as at first proposed, and on ground 
•common to the several nations, had provoked anew the hatred of 
the Mohawks, while the murder of three oi the colonists by the 
Oneidas, had led to acts of retaliation on the part of the French. 
Moreover, the war being waged for the extermination of the 
Eries was at its height; and the prisoners, including women and 
children, were brought in numbers to Onondaga and other Iro- 
quois villages, and after the customary tortures consigned to the 
flames. In the midst of the general turmoil, a conspiracy was 
organized for the slaughter of the colony, including the mission- 
aries. The plot was disclosed' by a dying Onondaga who had re- 
cently been baptized. Messengers were sent in haste to call in 
the missionary Fathers from the several cantons, who together 
with the colonists, fifty-three in number, were speedily gathered 
in their fortified house on Lake Ganentaa. M. Du Puys, the 
■officer in command, immediately entered upon pi'eparations for 
their escape from the country. Every movement had to be con- 
ducted with the utmost secrecy, as the slightest suspicion of 
their intentions would be the signal for a genei'al massacre. 
Moreover the savages were on the watch day and night as they 
lounged before the gate of the mission house or stealthily crept 
a,bout the palisade that enclosed the premises. The French find- 
ing that they had only canoes for half their number, built in the 
garret of the Jesuits' house, unsuspected by the Indians, two 
batteaux of light draft and capable of holding fifteen persons 
•each, which were kept concealed until everything should be in 
readiness for the departure. 

Eesort was now had to strategem. Among tlie French was a 
young man who had been adopted into the family of an Onon- 
daga chief and had acquired great influence with the tribe. He 



30 

gravely told his foster father that he had dreamed the previous 
night lie was at a feast at which the guests ate everything set 
before them, and asked permission to make a similar feast for the 
whole tribe.' A day was named for the banquet; the stores of 
the settlement were freely contributed to swell the bounty and 
give zest to the festivities, which took place on the evening of 
the 20th of March in a large enclosure outside the palisade that 
protected the mission house. Here, amid the glare of blazing- 
fires, Frenchmen and Iroquois joined in the dance, the musicians, 
in the meanwhile, with drums, trumpets and cymbals keeping np 
a continuous uproar, in the midst of which those in charge of 
the boats were making the necessary preparations for the em- 
barcation. The feast lasted until midnight, when gorged to re- 
pletion and under the soothing notes of the guitar played by the 
young Frenchman, the guests fell into a profound slumber. He 
then silently withdrew and joined his companions who lay upon 
their oars anxiously awaiting his coming ; and before morning, 
the fugitives were far on their wa}^ to Oswego. Late into the 
next day, the Indians stood wondering at the silence that reigned 
in the mission house ; yet, as the afternoon wore away, their pa- 
tience was exhausted, and scaling the palisade, they bui-st open the 
doors to find, to their amazement, every Frenchman gone. Gaz- 
ing at each other in silence, they fled from the house. No trace 
betrayed the flight of the French. " They have become invisible," 
cried the savages, " and flown or walked upon the waters, for 
canoes they had not."" 

The party reached Montreal, after a perilous journe}^ on the 
3d of April, with the loss of a single canoe and three of their num- 
ber drowned in the St. Lawrence. The same 3'ear, (1657) a fe- 
rocious war between the French and Iroquois raged all along the 
Canadian frontier. It lasted some two years, during which the 
missionary Fathers had a steadfast friend in Garacontie, the re- 
nowned chief of the Onondagas, who left no means untried to 

1 A dream was regarded as a most imperative form of di\iiie revelation, and was to be 
obeyed at all hazards. This sort of feast at which everything was to be eaten (feMin a manyo' 
tout) also ranked among their superstitions, and was sometimes resorted to for the healing 
of the sick, an instance of which occurs in the next number. 

^ Relation 1C5S, Chap. I, II. See also : Old Regime of Canada, pp. .35-39. Shea's Catholic 
Missions, pp. 238-239. Field Book Revolution, I, 229-230. 



31 

bring about a peace for the sake of their return.' It was through 
his influence that an embassy under charge of Saonchiogwa, the 
head sachem of the Cajugas, was sent to Montreal to secure this 
object. The negotiations were attended with many difficulties, 
and required adroit management on the part of the Cayuga orator. 
The French had learned to view with distrust such overtures, if 
they had not lost all confidence in Iroquois sincerity. " They 
cry peace," writes Father Le Jenne in his account of this em- 
bassy, "and murder in the same breath. Peace is made at Mon- 
treal and war is waged at Quebec and Three Rivers. While we 
receive them at our homes, they kill us in the forests, and our 
people are murdered by those who protest that they are our 
best friends." 

In giving the account of the embassy we follow the narrative 
of Le Jeune : ''It was in the month of July (1660) amid such 
disasters, that there appeared above Montreal two canoes of the 
Iroquois, who, on displaying a white flag, came boldly under that 
standard and put themselves into our hands as if their own w^ere 
not red with our blood. It is true they had with them a pass- 
port that put them above all fear of harm from us, go where they 
would, in four French captives whom they came to return as a 
pledge of their sincerity. They asked for a conference, saying 
that they were deputed by the Cayugas and Onondagas, from 
whom they had brought messages of importance. Indeed, the 
head of the embassy was the celebrated Captain of the Cayuga na- 

1 It wa< not until after the flight of the French that Garacontie became the avowed pro- 
tector of Christians and the advocate of peace. Indeed, he fitted up in his own cabin a 
chapel, and maintained, so far as he was able, the emblems and associations of the Faith. 
He succeeded ia rescuing a number of French captives brought to the ditterent cantons, and 
these he would assemble at Onondaga, morning and evening, with the Hurons to prayer, at 
the sound of the mission bell, which he had carefully preserved, and which was only allowed 
to be used on the gravest public occasions. A war party of the Mohawks in one of these 
raids in the vicinity of Quebec, took from the Hurons on the Isle of Orleans a crucifix, some 
two feet in length, which they bore among their spoils to their village. On learning of this, 
Garacontie went in person to the village and by arguments and rich presents rescued the sa- 
cred symbol from profanation and set it up over the altar which awaited the return of the 
missionary Fathers. On the resumption of the mission at Onondaga, Father Milet, in speak- 
ing of his methods of assembling the adults to Catechumen, says : " I borrowed for this pur 
pose a bell which they had thirteen or fourteen years ago from tliose of our Fathers who 
were in this mission when the war was kindled there." He also speaks of its having been 
used to summon the deputies to the council, the same that had called the faithful to worship 
to the Jesuit's chapel at Ganentati. Relation, 1661, 32 : 1670, .51. For an interesting account 
of the finding of fragments of this bell, see Clark's Hint. Onondaga Co., II, 257, 876. 



32 

tion, who was friendly to us when we were among the Iroquois, 
and tlie host of our Fathers in their hibors to found the first 
church among his people. 

We appointed a day for the conference, and received him as 
if innocent of any participation in the murders which had been 
committed throughout our settlements. The day arrived, when 
he displayed twenty belts of wampum, which spoke more elo- 
quently than his speech, marked though it was from beginning 
to end with much native grace, and presenting with great adroit- 
ness all the points to be secured by his mission. He had come, 
and this was the important object of the embassy, to obtain the 
release of eight Cayugas, his countrymen, kept at Montreal since 
the previous year. In order to induce us to liberate these pris- 
oners, he broke the bonds of the four Frenchmen he had brought 
with him, promising at the same time the liberty of twenty oth- 
ers who were held at Onondaga ; and finally assured us of the 
good will of his nation, notwithstanding the acts of hostility 
committed during the past two years. His speech was clothed 
in excellent terms and was attended with much ceremony. 

First of all he offered a present to Heaven to bring back, he 
said, the Sun which had been in eclipse during these wars, the evils 
of which that luminary had refused to look upon. It had been, 
he said, forced, as it were, to retire so as not to shine upon the 
inhumanities that attend such conflicts among men. 

Having thus propitiated Heaven, he next sought to restore the 
earth, convulsed as it had been by the tumult of war. This he 
did by a present which was intended at the same time to calm 
the rivers, clear out all the rocks, smooth down the rapids and 
thus establish free and safe intercourse between us and them. 

Another present covered all the blood that had been shed and • 
brought again to life all that had been slain in these wars. An- 
other gave us back the comfort and peace we had lost in the 
troubles we had suffered. Another was to restore the voice, 
clear the throat and organs of speech, that none but the pleasant 
words of })eace might pass between us ; and in order to show 
with what sincerity he desired to be bound to us, he said, in pre- 
senting a magnificent belt : This is to draw the Frenchman to 
us that he may return to his mat which we still preserve at Ga- 



33 

nentaa ;' where the house is yet standing that he liad when he 
dwelt among us. The fire has not been extinguished since his 
departure, and the fields, which we have tilled, await but his 
hand to gather in the harvest ; he will make peace flourish again 
in the midst of us by his stay, as he had. banished all the evils of 
war. And to cement this alhance, and bind us together vso firm- 
ly that the demons, jealous of our happiness, shall never be able 
to cross our good designs, we ask that the holy sisters should 
come and see us, as well to take care of the sick as to instruct the 
children, (he intended, to speak of the Hospital nuns and the Ursu- 
lines) ; we will erect roomy cabins, furnished with the most beau- 
tiful mats the country affords ; and they ueed have no fear of the 
water-falls or the rapids, for we have so united the rivers that 
they may put their own hands to the oar without trouble or fear. 
Finally, he made a full recital of the comforts these good nuns 
would find in his country, not forgetting to mention the abun- 
dance of Indian corn, strawberries, and other fruits of this sort, 
which he set forth in his discourse as the strongest inducement 
to attract them on this expedition. His whole manner, both of 
gesture and posture, in arranging the two presents given with 
this object, indicated that he was moved in their bestowal by 
his gallantry, rather than by any expectation that the request 
would be granted. The final word he spoke, was in a tone of 
stern resolve, as raising the last belt he exclaimed, a Black- 
gown must come with me, otherwise no peace ; and on his com- 
ing depend the lives of twenty Frenchmen at Onondaga. In 
saying this he produced a leaf from some book, on the margin 
of which these twenty Frenchmen had written their names, in 
confirmation of the object of the embassy. 



1 Ganentaa— The site of the Mission of St. Mary. The Onondagas had a traall Indian village, 
used as a landing place, situated near the southern extremity of Onondaga Lake. North of 
this and about midway between the two extremities of the lake, on the north side, was the 
site assigned for the French residence and Mission. It was about twelve miles from the main 
village of the Onondagas, w ho then lived about two miles south of the present village of 
Manlius in the town of Pompey. The "Jesuits Well " still exists with :t.s accompanying salt 
fountains, and may be found just north of the railroad bridge on lot 106. This was the flrsi 
CatJiolic Chapel erected in the present temtory of the State of New York. Frontenac, in 1696. 
erected a palisaded fort on this site, for tlie protection of his batteaux and supplies, while en- 
gaged in the destruction of the Onondaga and Oneida villages. In 1797 Judge Geddes, in 
making surveys for the Slate, found the remains of a palisaded work at this point, some of 
the pickets of which were still standing. This was probably erected on the same site in 1756 
by Sir William Johnson for the Onondagas. (See instructions for building. Doc. Hist. N. 
Y., II, 442-470.)— J. S. C. 



34 

After the speech, lie formally delivered n[) the four French 
captives, who recounted to us the hospitable reception given 
them at Onondaga and the kind treatment bestowed upon their 
companions whom they had left behind. Finally, these poor 
Frenchmen implored us, with clasped hands, to have pity on 
them as we had nothing to fear from these people among whom 
they had thus been cared for, and begged us to send one of the 
Fathers to break the bonds of their fellow captives and deliver 
them from the flames, to which otherwise they were inevitably 
doomed. 

The diplomacy of Saonchiogwa proved a success, and, not- 
withstanding the misgivings of the French as to his personal 
safety. Father Le Moyne, whose visit to Onondaga in 1653 opened 
the way for the first missions, was allowed to return with the em- 
bassy, and arrived at Onondaga the 12th of August, 1660, when 
the pledge given by Saonchiogwa was fulfilled in the release of 
the French prisoners and their safe return with the Father to 
Montreal. The chief obstacle to resuming the missions at this 
time, was in the implacable hostility of the Mohawks, who per- 
sistently refused to make peace with the French, until six years 
after, when they were attacked on their own teri'itory by a force 
of a thousand men, led in person by M. de Tracy, Viceroy of 
Canada, and three of their villages, with a large quantity of corn, 
destroyed. This was in the autumn of 1666, and resulted in the 
restoration of peace, followed by the resumption of the missions 
in the several cantons of tlie Iroquois. 

Before his return to Moiitreal, (1662) Le Moyne made a brief 
visit to the Mohawks,' which nearly cost him his life, and he was 



1 In 1655, Le Moyne made a visit to the Mohawks, and instead of returning directly to Que- 
bec, passed the winter in New Ketherland, and for the first time saw New Amsterdam, the 
Dutch capital, containing then about 1,000 inhabitants. While there, says Brodhead, (Hist. 
N. Y. Vol. 1. pp. 645) he formed a warm friendsliip with Dominie Johannes Megapolensis, 
whose early missionary efforts among the ^Mohawks led him to look with lively interest, if 
not with entire sympathy, on the zealous labors of the Jesuit Fathers. It was at this time 
that Le Moyne communicated to his distinguished friend an account of his visit in 1654 to the 
■' salt springs " of Onondaga. Governor Stuyvcsant availed himself of the i)resence of Le 
Moyne to obtain through his influence a permission from tlie Governor of Canada for Dutch 
vessels to trade in the St. Lawrence, and a bark was forthwith cleared from New Amster- 
dam with a cargo on which the duties were remitted, as it was the first from Manhattan to 
Canada. But the unlucky pioneer vessel on entering the St. Lawrence was wrecked at An- 
ticosti. 



35 

barely able to make his escape from the scene of his earlier mis- 
sionary labors. The Cayugas offered him protection, and he 
spent a month with them, laboring with characteristic zeal for 
their spiritual welfare. In the Relation^ 1661-2, Chap. TV, we 
have this account of the reasons which led Le Moyne to visit 
Cayuga, and of his work during tlie brief time he was there. 

" The Iroqnois of Caynga, who are less cruel and whom we have 
found more affectionate than the other Iroquois nations, espe- 
cially at the time when we ministered in their cantons to the Hu- 
ron church among them, were moved with compassion at our 
troubles, and in order to give protection to the Father, invited him 
to come and instruct them until the danger should have passed. 
The Father was rejoiced at this offer, more for the sake of the 
salvation of these kind barbarians than from any considerations 
of personal safety, and went to serve them for some weeks. He 
was received with public acclamation, and found an ample field 
for the exercise of his zeal. 

" The lancet of a young French surgeon who accompanied him, 
and whose skill God wonderfully blessed during the prevalence 
of a dangerous and infectious disease, aided the good cause inas- 
much as many, whose lives had been despaired of, were cured. 
This won the hearts of the people and opened to the Father the 
door of every cabin, where he was met with a kindly eye and lis- 
tened to with a ready ear, as he spoke to them of the things per- 
taining to their salvation. A whole month was too short to bap- 
tize all the little children, and to console a number of good Hu- 
ron Christian women, whose captivity of fifteen or twenty years 
had not separated them from the cherished Faith. They con- 
vert the cabin of their masters into a temple ; they serve one an- 
other instead of pastors, and sanctify by their prayers the woods 
and fields where Jesus Christ would not be worshiped except 
for these poor captives. What a joy to this scattered flock to 
see again their shepherd ! The eye spoke more than the lips in 
this happy interview. How could we I'cstrain our tears of joy 
and compassion, seeing these poor Christians weeping with such 
devotion ! Surely these are, the tears which, flowing from the 
eyes of the savage, heal his pains and soften the labors of his hard 
lot. 



IV. 



Cayuga was among the last of the cantons to have its mission 
restored. In 1664, four years after the embassy narrated in the 
previous number, Saonchiogwa headed a delegation of C'ayugas 
to solicit missionaries, but failed. Two years afterward he re- 
newed the request ; and Fathers James Fremin and Peter Eaf- 
feix were chosen to accompany him to his canton ; but again 
his hopes were baffled. Fremin went on to the Mohawks, and 
Raffeix remained at Montreal to carry out a plan for a settle- 
ment at Laprairie. Father Julian Garnier was already at Onon- 
daga, and no sooner was the mission there inaugurated by the 
building of a chapel, than Garacontie witli several French pris- 
oners, set out for Quebec to secure an additional missionary for 
his own people, and one for the Cayugas who had been so sorely 
disappointed the year before. He made his appeal directly to the 
Governor, and Fathers Peter Milet and Stephen de Carheil were 
selected to accompany him to Onondaga. Milet remained there ; 
and de Carheil proceeded to Cayuga with Garnier to conduct the 
ceremony of his introduction to the village. 

"We give the account of the first year of Father de Carheil's 
labors in re-establishing the mission, from Relation 1669, Chap. \Y : 

MISSION OF ST. JOSEPH IN CAYUGA. 

This people, making a fourth Iroquois nation, are located 
about one hundred and sixty-five leagues from Quebec and 
twenty from Onondaga, going always between west and south. 
Father Stephen de Carheil arrived at Cayuga on the 6th of No- 
vember, 1668, and there presented to Heaven, as the first fruits 
of his labors, a female slave of the Andastes.' They had come 

I Andastes, a term used generically bj' the French, and applied to several distinct Indian 
tribes located south of the Five Nations, in the present territory of Peinisylvania. They 
were of kindred blood, and spoke a dialect of the same lan2;u;it:e as the Iroquois of New York. 
The most northerly of these tribes called by Cliamplain in Kil.") Carantouannais, were de- 
scribed by him. as residing south of the Five Nations, and distant a short three days' jour- 
ney from the Iroquois' fort attacked by him in that year, which fort is supposed to have been 



37 

in company from Onondaga, and tins journey which they made 
together was the means of enabling her to proceed on her way 
joyfully towards paradise ; for having been instructed and bap- 
tized during their journey of two days, as soon as she had ar- 
rived at Cayuga, she was roasted and eaten by these barbarians 
on the 6th of November.' 

located in the town of Fenner, Madison Co., N. Y. Late researches appear to warrant the 
conclusion that the large town called Carantouan by Champlain, and described as containing 
more than eight hundred warriors, was located on what is now called "Spanish Hill," near 
Waverly, Tioga Co., N. Y. One of the most southerly tribes was located at the Great Falls 
between Columbia and Harrisburg, Pa., and in vicinity of the latter place ; described by Gov. 
Smith in 1608 as occupying five towns, and called by him Sasquesahanoughs or Susquehanna?. 
At an early date, a tribe resided in the vicinity ot Manhattan, called Minquas, and the 
Dutch colonists appear to have applied this term to all cognate tribes, west of them, and 
south of the Five Nations ; in like manner the English of Virginia, knowing only the Sus- 
qaehannas, considered all as Susquehannas in their vicinity, to the north and west. Less is 
known of these tribes than of other nations by which they were surrounded. The Jesuit 
Fathers had no missions among them, though frequent reference is made in the Relations to 
the wars between them and the Iroquois, and of the torture, and burning of prisoners, brought 
by the latter to their villages. In Relation, 1647-8, Andastoe is described as a country be- 
yond the Neuter Nation one hundred fifty leagues southeast, \ south from the Hurons in 
a straight line, or two hundred leagues by the trails. This distance locates the town at this 
date, in a vicinity of Columbia, Pa., aqd identifies them with those known as Conestogas, 
probably the same as the Susquehannas of Smith. In Rdation 1662-3, Father Lallemant 
says that in the month of April (1603.) eight hundred Iroquois warriors proceeded from the 
western end of Lake Ontario to a fine river resembling the St. Lawrence, but free from falls 
and rapids, which they descended one hundred leagues to the principal Andastogue village, 
which was found to be strongly fortified, and the aggressors were repulsed. This route ap- 
pears to have been through Genesee river, to Canaseraga creek, thence up that stream and 
by a short portage to Cauisteo river, and thence down the Canisteo, Chemung and Susque- 
hanna rivers to the fort. This route is indicated on the earlier maps, as one continuous river, 
flowing from Lake Ontario, under the name of Casconchagon and so appears in Charlevoix's 
Map or 1744. This probably is same position alluded to In 1647-8. These tribes were en- 
gaged in various wars with the Iroquois which began as early as 1600 and continued with 
more or less frequency until 16T5, those nearest the Five Nations being first overthrown. 
At the latter date, their power for further resistance appears to have been completely broken, 
and they were incorporated into the League, a part, however, retreated southward, and were 
menaced by the Maryland and Virginia troops, the last remnant falling victims to the butch- 
ery of the Paxton boys. A very interesting account of the Andastes may be found in a paper 
by Dr. Shea, originally printed in the October number of the Histoncal Magazine 1858, enti- 
tled, " The Identity of the Andastes, Minquas, Susquehannas and Conestogues ;" and since 
incorporated in his edition of Alsojfs Maryland. Gallatin in his map, followed by Bancroft 
and others, place the Andastes near Lake Erie. This may have been one of the most west- 
ern of these tribes originally located farther east, and to escape destruction by the Iroquois, 
accepted the alternative of emigration. La Honton in his map of 1683 also places Andastogue- 
ronons south of the west end of Lake Erie. These may have been the Ontastois described 
by Galinee in 1669, as near the Ohio.— J. S. C. 

1 Father Isaac Jogues, the first missionary among the Mohawks, and who suffered martyi - 
dom at their hands, relates a similar instance which occurred while he was among them. 

They sacrificed an Algonquin woman, in honor of Areskoui, their war god, exclaiming 

Areskoid to thee we burn this victim, feast vpon the flesh, and grant us new victories— vihexeioTQ 
ber flesh was eaten as a religious rite. 



38 

Father Garnier, wlio accompanied Father de Carheil, on ar- 
riving at the village, made the customary presents to secure the 
building of a chapel and prepare the way for the reception of 
the Christian faith. These were responded to by similar presents 
on their part, in which they promised to embrace the faith and 
erect a chapel. The chapel was completed on the 9th of No- 
vember, two days after his arrival, and dedicated to St. Joseph 
by Father de Carheil. 

He writes, that on St. Catherine's day, he had the proof that 
this eminent saint was actively engaged in Heaven on behalf of 
himself and these poor savages; that on this day there came 
quite a number desiring prayers and instruction, so that he thinks 
he may call this the day of the birth of this mission and church. 
"This is also the day," he adds, "that I implored this saint to 
whom I had before been consecrated, that she would teach me 
to speak in the way she had formerly spoken to convince the 
idolatrous philosophers. Since this time, the chapel has been en- 
larged and has never lacked for worshipers." 

It so happened, at first, that but few of their warriors were 
able to come for instruction, as the greater part were engaged in 
hunting or fishing. But the rumor of a war party of the An- 
dastes in the vicinity, soon gathered them together and gave the 
Father an opportunity to preach the Gospel to a large number. 

This wide-spread report that the enemy, to the number of 
three hundred, wei'c on their wa}^ to attack Cayuga, proved false ; 
but it served as an occasion for the Father to show to the Iroquois 
that he loved them, and to raise him in their esteem by his con- 
tempt for death, in remaining night after night with those who 
acted as sentinels. Thus were they disabused of the idea, that 
in the general panic, he would manifest the same alarm which 
had seized others ; and the warriors themselves, the chiefs with 
the old men, gave him a testimonial of the honor in wliicli they 
held him, in a public feast. 

The Father knew how to make the most of the opportunity, 
as he passed from cabin to cabin, saying to them: " Know, my 
brothers, that men like us fear not death. Why should they be 
afraid to die? They believe in God; they honor Ilim ; they 
love Him; they obey Him, and are certain, after death, of eter- 



39 

nal happiness in heaven. It is you, my brotliers, who ought to 
fear death ; ior till now, you have neither known nor loved God. 
You have never obeyed Him. He will punish you eternally if 
you should die without believing in Him, without loving Him, 
without keeping His commandments and without being bap- 
tized." Then, having been invited by a child into a lodge where 
there were about twenty warriors, he harangued them after this 
manner: "I am delighted, my brothers, to find myself in like 
danger with you. Be assured that I do not fear death ; that I 
would rather lose m}^ life than to see you die without receiving 
baptism." And he added as the moral of this apprehended com- 
bat, that they would behold him fearlessly going among the 
wounded, to baptize such as were rightly disposed by a firm be- 
lief in our mysteries and a true sorrow for sin. 

These warriors listened with marked pleasure to this discourse, 
and although it grew out of a false alarm, common among the 
savages, yet it exerted an influence as favorable for the faith, as 
if the enemy had really been at the gates. Thus a wise mis- 
sionary neglects no opportunity, and intelligently improves the 
time to gain, for eternity, precious souls which cost the blood of 
the Son of God. 

This church begins already to grow. It numbers among its 
converts not only women and children, but also warriors, two 
of whom are among the more noted — one because he bears the 
name of the hourg of Cayuga,^ which he maintains with honor, 
and the other in consequence of his riches and valor. Prayer is 
not despised at Cayuga as in other places. If some are opposed 
to it, they are the very few ; nevertheless, we are not in haste to 
give baptism to this people. We wish rather to prove their con- 
stancy, for fear ol: making apostates instead of Christians. 

The Father employed in the beginning of his teachings ex- 
clusively the Huron language, readily understood by the Iro- 
quois when it is well spoken. He has since prepared a formula 



1 The name of this great war chief was written Goigouen Orehaoiie, and he is known in 
the annals of the time as "Orehaoue the Caj'uga." The other warrior here referred to was 
doubtless Sarennoa, who is associated with Orehaoue in the subsequent history, and particu- 
larly in the expulsion of Father de Carheil from their canton in 1684, of which at the time 
they were the two head chiefs. The latter became, as will be seen, a conspicuous figure in 
the history of New France. 



40 

of baptism in the Cayuga dialect, and in composing it lias used 
only the simple roots of the language ; and is assured from his 
familiarity with the Iroquois tongue, acquired in his travels, and 
from his past experience, that if in the use of roots and of various 
discourses, he can gather a sufficient number of words to express 
different actions, he will have mastered the language.' 

Besides the town of Cayuga, which is the seat of the mission, 
there are two others under his charge — one four leagues from 
there, and the other nearly six leagues. The last two are situ- 
ated upon a river, which coming from the region of the Andas- 
togue, descends, at four leagues distant from Onondaga, on its 
way to empty into Lake Ontario. The great quantity of rushes 
on the borders of this river (Seneca) has given the name of Thi- 
ohero' to the village nearest Cayuga. The people who compose 
the body of these three large villages ai-e partly Cayugas, and 
partly Hurons and Andastes — the two latter being captives of 
war. It is there that the Father exercises his zeal and asks com- 
panions in his apostolic labors. 

While he takes occasion to praise the docility of the Cayugas, 
he is nevertheless not without his trials. His host (Saonchi- 
owaga), who is the chief of the nation and who had taken Inni 
under his protection, has for some time past ill-treated him ; for 
desiring as the missionary of his people a certain other Father, 
whom he had brought with him to his home and whom it was 

1 The dfficulties which the missionary had to encounter in this regard are given at length 
by Le Jeune in his Relation 1633, where he recounts his experience, in acquiring the lan- 
guage of the Lower Algouquins, which in its structure resembled closely that of the Hu- 
rons. After long and patient labor, enhanced by the incompetency of his teacher, of whom he 
would often be compelled to ask a number of questions to reach the meaning of a single 
word, he prepared a grammar and a dictionary and succeeded in composing a catechism, in- 
cluding the Lord's prayer, the creed, &c., in their own language. He could do this only as 
he used words which approximated to the ideas he wished to express ; for while he found the 
language copious in words fitting ideas derived from the senses, and singularly adapted the 
knowledge and experiences of the savage, it had no words to designate moral truths and 
spiritual conceptions. 

sThiohero, or St. Stephen, was located at the northern extremity of Cayuga Lake, on the 
east side of the'.river, on the farm now owned by John La Rowe. This was the crossing place 
of the great trail, at which was afterward the bridge of the Northern Turnpike. The Salt 
Springs mentioned by Father Rafflex in \&i-Z were a mile and a half northwest on the oppo- 
site side of the river, and about half a mile north of the Seneca river railroad bridge. Both of 
these places are mentioned by the Jesuit Fathers as being four leagues, or ten miles, distant 
from Goiogouen, then located on Great Gully Brook, three and a half miles south of Union 
Springs. At the time of Sullivan's campaign in 1779, a small village was found here named 
in some of the journals, Choharo.— J. S. C. 



41 

his indisputable right to retain/ he liad allowed Fatlier de Car- 
heil, against his own wishes, to be given to Cayuga by Garacontie 
the famous chief. He says in a haughty way that he does not 
belong to them, but to Onondaga, or perhaps to Oneida, wdiere 
he insists he ought to go. On the other hand Garacontie would 
have preferred Father de Carheil, as having been placed in his 
hands at Quebec, for Onondaga where he is chief. But the ne- 
cessity of affairs at present has compelled the arrangement as it 
is." This conflict of rights, however, and this emulation as to 
who will have these missionaries is sufficient ground for great 
hopes, and is proof that to establish the faith, all that is required, 
is the necessary number of evangelical laborers. 

The famous Garacontie, the most renowned of all the Iroquois 
chiefs, and the most friendly of all to the French, earnestly de- 
sires baptism. He no longer accepts a dream as a guide to hu- 
man conduct f and promises that hereafter he will no more grant 
the things that are dreamed, without the explicit understanding 
that it is not because it is a dream that he accedes to the request. 
Furthermore he has so conquered himself that he will no longer 
have more than one wife. But inasmuch as it is necessary in a 
chief of his reputation, that all these matters should undergo a 
strict examination, we still defer baptism.'* 

He has made the host of Father de Carheil a present of a 
wampum belt, to affirm peace and to establish our Fathei's firmly 
in that country. Moreover, everybody among the Iroquois con- 

1 The reference here is to Father Fremin, who, the previous year had accompanied Saon- 
chiowaga from Montreal, but instead of remaining at Cayuga proceeded to the Mohawks, and 
was at this time Superior of tlie Iroquois Missions. 

2 In the existing arrangement, the distribution of missionaries was as follows: Dablon, who 
was with Chaumonot at Onondaga in 1656, and Jean Pierron, wlio had just arrived ft om France 
were assigned to the Mohawks. Bruyas, who had been about a year in Canada, and who af- 
terward became so distinguished as an Indian philologist, was sent to the Oneidas. Gamier 
the flrst Jesuit ordained at Quebec, and Milet were at Onondaga, when Carheil was transferred 
to Cayuga. Fremin, after being made Superior of the Missions, went to the Senecas and was 
soon joined by Rafifeis. There was a Seneca village, named Gandougare, composed of refu- 
gees from the Neuter Nation and the Hurons, which Fremin himself took charge of, detail- 
ing Garnier from Onondaga to Gandachiragou, about four miles south of the great town of 
the Senecas, Sonnontouan. 

3 Dreams were the oracles of the Iroquois, and were to be obeyed at all hazards. 

4 In June 1670, an embassy led by Garacontie visited Quebec, at which time the renowned 
chief was baptized by the Lord Bishop Laval, with great ceremony, and took the name of 
Daniel, from Courcelles, Governor of Canada. His Indian name signified— .S''^/< /hat advances. 



42 

tinues to appreciate the blessings of peace, after seeing the victo- 
ries of the Fi-ench arms among their neighbors. Nevertheless, 
nothing is so assared among these barbarians, that it is not 
necessary always to be on one's guard. 

Father de Carheil, perceiving that it had a good effect, by way 
of ridicule, with those savages who choose something created 
and vile as the master of their lives,' to frame a prayer in ac- 
cordance w^ith their notions, has, in certain instances, resorted to 
this method : 

" We must pray," said he, "to the master of our life ; and since 
this beaver is the master of thy life, let ns offer him a prayer : 
Thou Beaver^ ivho canst not speal^:, thou art the master of the life 
of me, who can speak! Thou who hast no soul, thou art the master 
of mij life luJiO have a soul T One such prayer brought them to 
serious reflection, and made them admit that they had hitherto 
shown a want of common sense in recognizing these creatures as 
the masters of their lives. Thus he introduces little by little, the 
knowledge of the true God, and teaches them his command- 
ments, which they find to be most reasonable. 

But alas ! these fair beginnings are unhappily reversed. All 
the powers of hell are arrayed in opposition. Superstition has 
taken a new lease of life; and the Father has discovered that in 
a heathen and barbarous country a missionary is compelled to 
carry his life in his hand. The Father had gone to Tiohero, 
and there been invited to a feast, at which everything was to be 
eaten, ^ for the healing of a sick person, whom he went to visit 

I The manUoii, or master of life, was the spirit that ruled all things. It might be of a bird, 
a buffalo, a bear, &c., or even a feather or a Skin. It is said, moreover, that no Indian would 
choose the manitou of a man for an object of adoration. 

■■! Each guest was required to eat the whole of tlie portion assigned him, however great the 
quantity ; otherwise his host would be outraged, the community shocked, the evil spirits be 
roused to vengeance, and death and disaster ensue to the individual and the nation. This 
kind of feast had other significations, as would appear from an incident which Mr. John 
Bartram relates as ofcurring on his journey from Philadelphia to Onondaga in the sum- 
mer of 1743. He was in company with Conrad Weiser, who was in high repute with 
the Delawares and Iroquois, Lewis Evans and Shickalmy, tlie father of the celebrated 
Loo'an. "We lodged," he writes, '-within about fifty yards of a hunting cabin, where 
there were two men, a squaw, and a child. The men came to our Are, made us a present 
of some venison and invited Mr. Weiser, Shickalmy and his son to a feast at their 
cabin. It is incumbent on those who partake of a feast of this sort, to eat all that 
comes to their share or burn it. Now Weiser, being a traveler, was entitled to a double 
share ; but being not very well, was forced to take the beneflt of a liberty indulged him of 



48 

with tlie design of baptizing her, after imparting the necessary 
instruction. Obserxang that h'e did not eat all this they had pre- 
pared for him, they insisted that it was essential that he should 
eat it all in order to heal the sick one. " I do not see my broth- 
ers," he replied, "that I can heal her in making myself sick by 
over eating, and by a remedy which the Master of our lives for- 
bids ; since it would make two persons sick instead of one — the 
first one remaining sick and he who over eats becoming so." 
All were taken by surprise with this reply. The sick person, 
above all, approved of what had been said, declaring that since 
this was not the proper course, she was resolved to have nothing 
more to do with superstitious remedies of this sort, nor with their 
dances as well, which only served to split a sick person's head.^ 
After that, she permitted no remedy which the missionary deemed 
superstitious, and after baptism, she was taken from Tiohero to 
Cayuga where she made confession of sins committed since she 
had received the grace of baptism. At length she died, filled 
with the consolation of knowing that after death she would be 
eternally happy. Her death, however, joined with the wide spread 
impression that baptism caused the death of individuals, con- 
firmed the delusion with which the Evil One has blinded these 
people to prevent their salvation. 

Since this occurrence, the Father writes us, that he has often 
been repulsed and even driven from the cabins whither he has 
gone to visit the sick. But to understand fully the situation in 
which he soon found himself, and the danger of losing one's life, 

eating by proxy, and called me. But both being unable to cope with it, Evans came to our 
assistance, notwithstanding which we were hard set to get down the neck and throat, for 
these were allotted to us. And now we had experienced the utmost bounds of their indul- 
gence, for Lewis, ignorant of the ceremony of throwing the bone to the dog, though hungry 
dogs are generally nimble, the Indian more nimble, laid hold of it first and committed it to the 
fire, religiously covering it over with hot ashes. This seems to be a kind of offering, perhaps 
first fruits to the Almighty power to crave future success in the approaching hunting season."' 
These Indians proved to be Cayug.is, on their return to their own country. — Observations 
&c., ill his travels from PMsilvania to Onondago, Osivego, &c., London, 1751, p. 24. 

1 Charlevoix gives an extended account of the superstitious customs here alluded to. The 
instance as tjld him by a missionary Father who witnessed the scene, was that of a Huron 
woman afflicted with a rheumatic distemper, wlio took it into her head that she should be 
cured by means of a feast, the ceremonies of which were under her own direction. The va- 
rious performances lasted four days, attended with cries or rather bowlings and all sorts of 
extravazant actions. His informant stated that she was not cured, but claimed to be better 
than before ; nevertheless, he added, a strong and healthy person would have l)een killed by 
the ceremony.— &5./o(/7vi«y in North America, II, 202-206. 



44 

to which the missionary in this heathen country is continually 
exposed, it is necessary to give, in his own words, the evil treat- 
ment he has received, more particularly on one or two occasions. 

"I had entered a cabin," he says, "to instruct and baptize a 
young woman, the daughter of a Huron captive ; and though the 
time for baptism was pressing she would not listen to me as 
she did at the commencement of her sickness, when her father 
answered sajnng, '' Thou speakest as formerly spoke Father 
Brebeuf in our country. Thou teachest that which he taught ; 
and as he caused men to die by pouring water on their heads, 
thou wilt cause us to die in the same manner." I well knew 
from that moment that there was nothing to hope foi'. Im- 
mediately after this, I observed one to enter who is a medicine 
man of our cabin; nevertheless he is much attached to me, and 
is in the habit of praying to God, and even knows the prayers 
by heart. He remained for some time without disclosing his 
purpose, but seeing that I did not I'etire, he commenced, in my 
presence, first to apply some remedies in which I saw no harm ; 
and then not wishing ray presence during the application he was 
about to make of certain other remedies, he insisted that I should 
leave the cabin. It caused me great sorrow to make up my mind 
to leave, and I could not do it, as I looked upon this poor crea- 
ture dying, without weeping with all the compassion of which 
my eyes were capable. As I saw the people that filled the cabin 
astonished at my tears, and also met the look of the sick person 
who at the first had turned her e3^es from me, I spoke to them 
after this manner : " Why do you wonder, my brothers, to see 
me weep thus ? I love the salvation of this soul, and I see her 
about to fall into eternal fire, because she is not willing to hear 
my words. I bewail her danger which you cannot know as I 
do."' After this I left and sought a neighboring field to pour 
out my complaint to God, still beseeching tlie salvation of this 
person. But there was no more tune ; for a few moments after 
they had driven me out, and in my person the mercy of God, 
this unhappy soul was taken from the body b}' divine justice 
and banislied eternally from heaven. 

I felt, through the evening, my heart filled with the bitterness 
of grief, which took away all disposition to sleep, ever keeping 



45 

before mj eyes the loss of this soul that I loved and desh'ed to 
save, but which now was lost. I then had a much clearer con- 
ception than ever before of the singular anguish of the heart of 
Jesus who loved all men and desired to save them all, but who 
nevertheless knew the prodigious multitude of men that would 
damn themselves in the course of the ages. His sorrow was in 
proportion to the greatness of his love. That, which at the loss 
of this one soul, so beat down my heart, was out of love which 
did not ajiproach the love of Jesus — only a feeble spark of it. 
O God, what was the condition of the Saviour's heart, conscious 
of this universal sorrow over the fate of all the damned ! O how 
small is the grief which men feel for temporal losses in compar- 
ison with that which one feels for the loss of souls, when he re- 
alizes their infinite worth ! Then the words of St. Paul, which 
describe the sufferings he recounts from his experience, came 
into my mind; and it seemed to me that those which expressed 
his deepest anguish, were Solliciludo Ecclesiaram — the care of the 
churches. 

Whilst engaged in these thoughts I was astonished at the ap- 
pearance of my host, who approached me with a frightened coun- 
tenance and whispered in my ear, that I must not go abroad on 
the morrow, nor even for three days, on the side of the town 
in which is the cabin of the woman who liad just died. My first 
thought was that they had formed the design to tomahawk me. 
Then all the bitterness of my heart was dissipated and changed 
into extreme joy, at seeing myself in danger of death for the sal- 
vation of souls.' I urged him to give me the reason why I 
should not go in that quarter; and though he did not seem 
willing that I should think they intended to kill me, he never- 
theless said enough to make me believe it. I did what prudence 
demanded, and replied that I would restrain myself from going, 



1 The Jesuit missionary craved, above all things, the glory of martyrdom. The desire some- 
times rose to a passion, as in the vow of Brebenf which he renewed each aay, exclaiming as 
he partook of the sacred wafer : What shall I render unto thee, Jesus my Lord for all thy ben- 
fjittt. I will accept thy cup, and invok'. thy name. I vow therefore in the sight of thy Eternal 
Father and the Holy iSpirit ; in the sight of thy most Holy Mother, and St. Joseph ; before the. 
holy angels, apoHles and mirtyrs, an-i before my sainted Fathers Ignatius and Francis Zavier, 
to thee my Jesus I vow, never to decline the opportunity of martyrdom and never to receive the 
death blow but with joy. Relation 1649 Chap. V ; 18. 



46 

during these tliree days, in my work of instruction to the other 
side of the town. 

In the rneanwlnle the old men were ahnost continually in 
council to restrain, by presents, this furious man who had re- 
solved my death, the report of which reaching Onondaga cre- 
ated much excitement among all our Fathers and in the neigh- 
boring cantons, even causing them to send by express to know 
the truth of tlie matter." The affair has had no further result. 
All is now appeased, and Father de Carheil continues, without 
fear, his ordinary labors. 

This first affront that he received was only a trial of his cour- 
age to prepare him for a similar one given by a young warrior, 
who chased him from his cabin because the Father would not 
allow him to say, that in roasting an ear of Indian corn in the 
ashes he was roasting the master of his life.' These are the only 
instances of ill-treatment that he has received in the town of 
Cayuga, composed of more than two thousand souls, and in 
which thej^ count more than three hundred warriors. 

They do not associate death with prayer, as with baptism. 
Many warriors and numbers of women pray to God. The chil- 
dren even know the prayers by heart. The knowledge of God's 
commandments has become common in their families; and so 
eager are they for instruction, tliat they ask to pray to God in 
the open streets. 

Drunkenness," which has penetrated even to the Cayugas, has 
made havoc among them and hindered greatly the progress of 

1 The maize, the native corn of America, is still honored with a species of worship by the 
Arickasses In Dacotah. See Ethnography and Philology of Hidatsas—U. S. Geol. and Geog. 
Surrey, 1668, /;. 12. 

- In this same year, 1668, at the suggestion of Father Pierron of the Mohawk mission, several 
sachems of that canton, came to New York with a petition to the English Governor, Lovelace, 
accompanied by a letter from the missionary asking him to interpose his authority to prevent 
the introduction of intoxicating liquors among the Indians. Lovelace at once directed the 
officers at Albany to put in force the existing laws against selling liquors to the Indians, and 
assured Pierron in a letter that he would take all possible care, and under the severest penal- 
ties to restrain and hinder all such traffic. lielation 1669, f'hap. 1, p 6. In 1702. Father de 
Carheil himself writes to Intendant Champigny from Michilimakinac : "Our missions are 
reduced to such extremity that we can no longer maintain them against the infinity of dis- 
order, brutality, violence, scorn and insult which the deplorable and infamous traffic in 
brandy has spread universally among the Indians in these parts. * * * In the despair into 
which we are plunged, nothing remains for us but to abandon them to brandy sellers as a 
domain of drunkenness and debauchery." Archires Natioaalex. For full account of what 
was styled the "Brandy Quarrel," see Old Regime of Canada, 319-323. 



47 

the gospel. The Father writes us from there, that it is very 
common for tliem to drink for the mere sake of intoxication. 
They avow this loudly beforehand ; and one and another is 
heard to say, "/am gomg to lose my head: I am going to drink 
(lie water tvhich talces away my ivits." 

The number of persons that have been baptized is twenty- 
eight, of whom one-half have already died, with such prepara- 
tion as leads us to believe that they have gone to heaven. 



V. 

The second letter of Father de Carheil from Cayuga bears 
date June, 1670, and is prefaced with the statement that the 
canton lias tliree principal towns, viz., Cayuga, which bears the 
name of St. Joseph, Kiohero, otherwise called St. Stephen, and 
Onontare' or St. Rene. 

I have baptized, since last autumn, twenty-five children and 
twelve adults, a good portion of whom Heaven has claimed, and 
among them nine children, whose salvation is thus secured. The 
loving providence of God has appeared to me so manifest in ref- 
erence to some for whom I had almost no hope, that I have been 
taught by experience, a missionary ought never to despair of the 
conversion of any soul, whatever resistance it may offer to di- 
vine grace. 

I had, as it appeared to me, thrown away my time and labor 
in endeavoring to gain to God a man and woman already very 
old, and who at best could not live long. The things of heaven 
made no impression upon their hardened hearts. They regard- 
ed faith and baptism with horror, as serving only to hasten their 
death. For it is the received opinion of the larger part of this 
people, founded as they say on their own observation, that for 
the thirty years and more, in which our fathers have labored for 
the conversion of the Indians of Canada, not only the families, 
but likewise whole nations, which have embraced the faith have 



1 The site of this town was near Savannah, in Wayne Co., N. Y. It was about five miles 
north of Thiohero, located at the foot of Cayuga Lake (note on page 21), and fifteen miles 
from Goi-o-gouen (Cayuga) on Great Gully Brook, three and a half miles south of Union 
Springs. It appears on Charlevoix's map as Onnontatacet, and is mentioned in 1688 as Onnon- 
tatae, a village of the Cayugas where there are several cabins and being on the way from the 
Bay of the Cayugas (Great Sodus) to Goi-o-gouen. All these names convey the idea of moun- 
tain; and a site known locally as Fort Hill, south-east of Savannah, on a high elevation, was 
probably one of the very early locations of this town. Other sites on lower lands near would 
naturally retain the name after the great hill had been abandoned.— J. S. C. 



49 

become desolated or extinct, almost as soon as they have become 
Christians, and that the greater part of those on whom is con- 
ferred lioly baptism die soon after receiving it. These wretched 
people seem to be so possessed, on this subject, with the artifices 
of the Evil One that they do not consider that, for the most part, 
the persons we baptize are already in the extremity of their dis- 
ease and nigh to death, and thus that baptism cannot be the 
cause of their death any more than of their sickness. This pop- 
ular error had so alarmed these two poor savages that they would 
not listen to the idea of l)eing baptized, nor permit me even to 
visit their fi-iends when sick. Nevertheless, liaving seen eacli 
other stricken down with a mortal malady, they sought our in- 
structions and demanded baptism with such ardor of desire that 
it was not possible to refuse them. Thus God knows well how 
to interpose in favor of Ilis elect and the most suitable time for 
tlie infallible operation of His grace. 

The person of all this neighborhood, who had given me most 
solicitude with respect to her baptism, and finally the most con- 
solation, is a woman of the Senecas, who had been sick for nine 
or ten months. The extraordinary number of persons she had 
seen die after the arrival of Father Fremin in her canton, men, 
women and children ; and the noise made everywhere about him 
as the sole author of this general desolation, and by his sorceries 
and magic and poisons causing death wherever he went, had 
given this woman such a horror of our person and remedies, our 
instructions and of baptism, that I could not gain access to her, 
nor obtain an opportunity to speak to her of her salvation. She 
had even communicated this aversion to all in the same cabin, 
saying that they were dead if they permitted me to come near 
them. She had alarmed them to such a degree, that as soon as I 
entered the cabin they all remained in profound silence, regarding 
me with a frightened look, and in their unwillingness to hear me, 
making no response, except that I should leave forthwith. In 
exchanging her residence subsequently, she fortunately went to 
live with ]^ersons who were friendly to me; still she preserved in 
hei' heart the old aversion toward me as one who carried about 
with him a deadly poison, with the power to communicate it by 



50 

woi'd or look.' But tlie more this ])oor woman held me in repug- 
nance, the more our Lord enabled me to exei'cise charity toward 
her, and to hope for her salvation, even against hope ; and though 
I saw no way in which this could be brought about, night and 
day I thought of lier, commending her to God, and her guardian 
angel, and to the one who has care of me, and to those who 
watch for the salvation of the people near to her. The night of 
her death I felt strangely impressed to offer mass solely for her ; 
and in this I solemnly vowed to our Lord that there was noth- 
ing in this world that I was not willing to saci'ifice to Him, pro- 
vided he would accord to me this soul for whose salvation He 
had given a thousand fold more than I could offer Him, since 
He had bought it with His own blood, and by His life. After 
mass, I went to visit her five or six times; but the Evil One still 
retained his hold upon her blinded mind. She would only re- 
gard me with a fierce and angry look and drive me from her 
presence. One time her resentment rose to such a pitch, that 
weak as she was, she took one of her shoes and hurled it at me, 
and I left the cabin. But God, who would save this soul, 
pressed me to I'e-enter immediately ; and ])i-oinpted me to adopt 
this method of gaining her attention. I addressed the people 
about her, saying to them the things wliich I would teach the 
sick person herself, as if intended for them. In this way she 
was led to apprehend very clearly the danger of eternal miser}^, 
which hung over her, and was touched with the thought of in- 
tinite happiness in paradise, now brought so near for her ac- 
ceptance. In availing myself of this mode of address, I spoke 
before her to those persons of all these things, to which I added 

1 David Brainei'd in his diaiy of missionary labors among the Delawares in 1744, writes 
thus : '•! perceived that some of them were afraid to hearken to and embrace Christianity 
lest they should be enchanted and poisoned by some of the jwwaws ; but I was enabled to 
plead with them not to fear these ; and confiding in God for safety and deliverance, I bid a 
challenge to all these powers of darkness to do their worst on me first." {Life of BraiMrd, p. 
107.) John Brainerd, brother of David, also a missionary among tlie Delawares thus alludes to 
the same superstition : " It is said that the Indians keep poison among them ; and that it is 
of such a nature that if one takes it in his breath it will cause him in a few months to pine 
away and die. A.nd this is supposed to be in the keeping of their old and principal men, and 
by this means they keep the people in continued dread of them. And some of the Indians 
seem to be so sottish as to imagine that they can poison them by only speaking the word, 
though they are at a distance of twenty or thirty miles, and are consequently afraid to dis- 
please them in any point." — Life of John Brainerd, p. 234. 



51 

some considerations on the mercy ol: Jesus Clifist, who became 
man for our salvation, giving her to understand that He would 
bestow upon her His everlasting love, if she would only have 
recourse to Him in simple trust. I passed the day without any 
satisfactory i-esult. Finall_y, I returned that evening as for the 
last time. It proved however, the first in which I gained her 
confidence. This time I only spake to her with my eyes, regard- 
ing her with a gentle kindness, and a sympathy sensibly touched 
by her affliction, and endeavoring to render some little attentions 
to alleviate her condition. I perceived that she began to relent 
and show a disposition to tolerate me. But God availed himself 
of a brave woman, who was instrumental in finally gaining this 
soul to Him. " It is time," she said " that thou hearest this 
wliich the Father would teach, to the end that thou mayest be 
happy through all eternity." "I am content," replied the sick 
person, '' let him instruct me. I will hear him gladly." She 
now listened with remarkable attention and docilit}'. She re- 
ceived with faith all my instructions, and at my request that 
she would repeat after me the prayers, said: "Thou seest well, 
my brother, that I can scarcely speak. My disease is lieavy upon 
my chest and suffocates my voice, but I pray you believe that 
my heart says all that thou sayest, and what my tongue cannot 
sa}'. Now baptize me without delay ; I wish to die a Christian, 
that Jesus may have pity on me." I baptized her on the mo- 
ment, and the same night God called her to heaven. Oh ! how 
well we are rewarded for all our anxieties, painful as they may 
be, by one such marvelous conversion ; and how happy is a 
missionary in awaiting from God that which to his feebleness 
appears impossible. He realizes the truth of the words of the 
evangelist, that God can cause to he horn of these very stones chil- 
dren unto Ahraham — that is to say, choose his elect from these 
hearts which to us appear so hard and impenetrable to His grace. 
I declare in all sincerity that it is to me a great consolation to 
see myself surrounded by so many sepulchres of saints in a place, 
where, on my arrival, my eyes I'ested only on the graves of the 
heathen ; and as it was this spectacle of the dead which struck 
me so painfully on my first coming here, so it is now, the 
thought that gives me the greatest joy. 



The lirst winter after I came to this village, God favored me 
with the ])rivilege of giving baptism to two good women, one of 
whom had called me expressly to baptize her, on the Day of 
Purification. They botli survived tlieir baptism an entire year, 
and as they had been faithful to their promises, and frequented 
the prayers and sacraments with devotion, I doubt not they liave 
increased the number of the elect in Heaven. 

A Chi'istian man and Christian woman of our ancient church 
of the Iliirons, have also given me the greatest consolation as 
the witness of the purity of their faith and of their lives, until 
death for which the)^ had attained a saintly preparation in the 
use of the sacraments of the church. 

In arranging for my first catechetical exercise, and apprehen- 
sive that none w^ould, of their own accord, respond in public, I 
drilled beforehand some of the children more particularly, as an 
example to the others of the manner I would have them answer 
the questions. But I was taken by surprise when I saw three 
or four women, among the more aged, rise on their feet to an- 
ticipate the cliildren in their responses. After the first day, 
we counted eighty-eight persons present, besides a number 
who listened at the door. One day, after explaining the crea- 
tion of the world and the number of years we count since the 
beginning to our time, and in order that they might the more 
readily comprehend the matter, T had shown it by some small 
stones which I used as counters, to prevent confusion and aid 
them to repeat the computation, when a warrior rose all at once 
in his })lace and faithfully rehearsed all that I had said ; but he 
did not fail to demand, by way of rewai'd, the same |3rize that I 
gave to the children.' 

' LeJeune thus describes his method of catechetical instruction while among the Algon- 
quins. Calling the children around him with his little bell, he had them all join in the open- 
ing exercise, in this prayer in their own language \—Noukhimami Je^ms iagoua Khistinohi- 
monitou Khikitmdna cede KhUcHtamoidn. CacatouM-hichien Maria oi/ccaonia Jem ca eata- 
ouachichieii Joseph aimiliito>dnait—My Cap/uin, ./«.<?/,«, teac/i me thy wordx and ihy ivUl. O 
good Mary, mother <if God .' O good Joseph, pray for ii.t. After this they were made to repeat 
the several parts of the catechism, when the Father would explain to them the mysteries of 
the faith, as the Holy Trinity, or the Incarnation ; after which he would ask : Do you un. 
(lerstand me ? At which they replied— JFoci?, Eoco, ninistioutenan—Yes, yes, ice understand. 
Then followed such questions as these : How many Gods are there ? Which of the three 
persons became man ? The exercises being concluded bj' chanting in their native tongue 
the Pater Xo4er, put in metre, the Father gave tlieni some simple food, which thsy ate with 
much relish. lielation 1633, p. 23. 



53 

The remainder of this letter of Father de Carheil is more par- 
ticularly occupied with the methods by which he sought to com- 
bat the superstitions of the people in the matter of dreams, evinc- 
ing tact and ingenuity not only, but a sincerity and devotion 
which we cannot fail to respect and admire. It will serve to 
illustrate the whole subject by giving one or two instances, occur- 
ring at Cayuga, as found in Chapter IX of Relation^ 1656, show- 
ing among other curious details of the customs and life of these 
people the estimate in which dreams were held as authoritative 
revelations of the divine will. 

It is not long since that a man of the castle of Cayuga dreamed 
one night that he saw ten men plunge into a frozen river, 
through a hole in the ice, and all come out at a similar opening, 
a little way beyond. The first thing he did, on awakening from 
his sleep, was to make a great feast, to which he invited ten of 
his friends. They all came. It was a joyous occasion. They 
sang; they danced, and went through all the ceremonies of a 
regular banquet. "This is all well enough," at length said the 
host; "you give me great pleasure, my brothers, that you enjoy 
my feast. But this is not all. You must prove to me that you 
love me." Thereupon he recounted his dream, which did not 
appear to surprise them ; for immediately the whole ten offered 
themselves for its prompt execution. One goes to the river and 
cuts in the ice two holes, fifteen paces from each other; and the 
divers strip themselves. The first leads the way, and plunging 
into one of the holes, he fortunately comes out at the other. 
The second does the same ; and so all of them until the tenth, 
who pays his life for the others, as he misses the way out and 
miserably perishes under the ice. 

In the same town of Cayuga there happened, an occurrence 
which produced a great excitement throughout the canton. A 
man dreaming that he had made a cannibal feast, invites all the 
chiefs of the nation to assemble in council, as he has something 
of great importance to communicate. Being assembled, he tells 
them that it has fallen to him to have a dream, which if he did 
not execute would cost the ruin of the nation, and with its over- 
throw a general destruction over the whole earth. He goes on 
at some length with tlie matter; and then gives an opportunity 



54 

for any one to interpret his dream. No person ventui-es to di- 
vine its meaning; until finally, one hardly believing that it can 
l)e so, says : '• Thou desiresi to Tnake a feast of a mayo. Take my 
brother. Behold 1 place him between thy hands! Cut him in pieces f 
Put him into the kettle T' Terror seized all present, except the 
dreamer himself, who replied that his dream demanded a wo- 
man ! Wliereupon, such was their superstition, they took a young 
maiden and adorned her person with all the riches of the coun- 
try, with bracelets, and collars and coronets ; indeed with every 
variety of ornament in use among women, even as the}^ are wont 
to decorate their sacrificial victims ; and thus this poor innocent, 
in ignorance of the meaning of this profuse adornment, was led 
to the place designated for the sacrifice. All the people came 
together to witness the strange spectacle, and the guests took 
their places. The victim was brought into the centre of the cir- 
cle and placed between the hands of the sacrificer, the one on 
whose account this offering was to be made. He receives her, 
and regarding intently the innocent one, has compassion upon 
her; and as all are looking for him to deal the death stroke, he 
cries out : "/am content; my dream is satisfied! " Is it not, adds 
the missionary Father, a great chanty to open the eyes of a peo- 
ple imposed upon by such absurd errors ? 

The narrative of Father de Carheil, detailing his method of 
meeting this superstition, is a further illustration of its nature 
and the power it had over the habits and life of this people. He 
writes: I have earnestly combated their superstitions, particu- 
larly the divine authority they attribute to dreams, which may 
be said to be the foundation of all their errors, as it is the soul of 
their religion. I have nevertheless recognized two things in 
my efforts to combat it. First, that it is not properly the dream 
that they worship as the master of their life, but a certain one of 
tlie genii, they call Agatkonchoria,' who, they believe, speak to 
them in sleep and command them to obey implicitly their dreams. 
The principal one of these spirits is Taronhiaouagon''' whom 
they recognize as a divinity and obey as the supreme master of 

1 Otkon means ii spirit or demon. Oimiidii ja Diclionanj. Bniyui?, Mohawk RadicaU. 

2 "I'pliolder of tlio heavens," from Garonliiaune, heaven. 



55 

their life; and when they speak of a dream as divine they only 
mean that it is by means of it they know the will of God, and 
what is necessary for the preservation of their life ; and further- 
more that the actual doing of the things they had seen in a dream, 
contributes to promote their health and happiness. They also 
sometimes give the name of master of their life to the object 
of their dream, as for example to the skin of a bear, or to simi- 
lar things which they have seen in their sleep; and because they 
reafard them as charms to whicli God has attached the good for- 
tune of a long life. Thus they take special care to preserve 
them with this view, and when they are sick, cover themselves 
with them, or place them near their persons as a defence against 
the attacks of disease. 

The second thing I have recognized in combating the obedi- 
ence they render to their dreams, is that they are not able to 
understand how the soul acts during sleep in thus representing 
to them objects distant and absent, as if near and present. 
They persuade themselves that the soul quits the body during 
sleep, and that it goes of itself, in search of the things dreamed, 
and to the places where they See them, and it returns into the 
body toward the end of night, when all dreams are dissipated. 
To refute errors so gross, I proposed to them three questions. 

First : I demanded of them, whether the body of the person 
while in the act of dreaming was dead or alive ? It is alive, they 
said. It is the soul then, I replied, that makes one live, and if it 
were absent from the body, the body would be dead, and so it 
cannot be true that the soul leaves the body during sleep. 

Second : Tell me, I said, is it with the eyes that we see the 
things whicli appear to us in our dreams; as for example an en- 
emy who comes to attack me ; a friend whom I meet on the 
path ; a deer which I am pursuing in the chase? It cannot be 
with tlie eyes, they replied, that we see them, for during sleep 
our eyes are closed and covered with darkness, they see nothing. 
It is our soul then, I said, that causes us to see at the time, what 
we see in our dreams, and consequently it is as necessary that it 
should be present with us, and in our body while we sleep, as for 
our eyes to be in our head, in their ordinary place, when by 



56 

means of tlieni we see the objects wliich present themselves dur- 
ing the day. 

My third question was this : If the soul leaves the body dur- 
ing sleep, where does it go? Does it go unto the enemy's coun- 
try? Does it go on the chase in the forest? What is it doing- 
while absent ? Have you ev^er found, on waking, the scalp the soul 
put into your hands, bringing it to you from the war? Or the 
bear upon your mat, that the soul has killed for you while you 
were asleep ? Often at the same moment I see myself in France, 
on the other side of the great watei-, and here among you. Is 
my soul at the same time here and in France ? They had no 
reply to these questions, and stood convicted of their errors. 

It is not so easy, however, to make them understand the phi- 
losophy of dreams, in which things that impress themselves upon 
the imagination are present to the mind in sleep, in the same 
manner in which the images of the objects we see, represent 
themselves to the senses. I have always endeavored to explain 
in as clear a manner as possible these things, by comparing the 
mind with itself, when it simply recalls by an act of memory 
distant scenes, and wlien in a dream it only imagines what ap- 
pears to be present. You know well, I said, that during the day 
our soul remembers what occurred some time ago, and in places 
very far ofi'. Is it not true that even now it presents the coun- 
try of the Andastogues, Outaouaks, Quebec and Montreal, to 
those of you who have been there, as if yon were there now? 
Your soul has not left your body to go to any of these places, 
for you are still alive; it has not passed the great river, nor 
made any journey. The same thing occurs in dreams during 
tlie night. But again I said to them, why should the mere rep- 
resentations of objects which are in the mind while we are 
asleep be the masters of our lives rather than the images of the 
same objects which are depicted in the same mind while awake? 
For this, whi(;h is called a memory during the day, is called a 
dream if it occur in the night. 

I then asked them if children not yet born had not .some one 
who was master of their life? They said yes. Now it is not 
possible, I replied, that this should be a dream, for as yet it is 
not possiV)le for them to have a dream. In fact, of what could they 



57 

dream? 01; knives, hatchets, swords or the Hke things? They 
have never seen any. It cannot be a dream that is the master 
of their life before birth, nor even a long time after they come 
into the world, since it is some years before they have dreams. 
It is necessary then that they should have some other master of 
their life, and another god than the dream, foi- all this while. 
But when they begin to dream, it cannot be that the one who 
was formerly the master of their life should cease to be such. 
None would know how to dis|)lace him nor rob him of this qual- 
ity and this power that he exercised over this infant before he be- 
gan to dream. He continues then to be the same as before, and 
thus he is their master before tlieir birth, and when as yet they 
have had no dreams. He is their master after their birth and 
when they begin to dream. He is equally such in the time 
of their youth and of their old age ; in fact to their death, and 
even after their death. And know that this Master, whose 
power is inmiutable and eternal, is the God whom we adore, and 
who will recompense all of us according to our deeds. It is not 
the dream, wliich, as your own experience has often told you, 
onl}^ imposes upon you impious and unreasonable demands, and 
which has deceived you a hundred times in the course of your 
lives. 

These barbarians show that they are capable of listening to 
reason and of perceiving its light in all its purity; for some of 
the more enlightened declare that they were convinced of the 
truth of what I liad said to them and have since renounced these 
vain superstitions.' 

The inclinations of these people only prompt them to engage 
in the chase or in war. They form into parties of twenty, thir- 
ty, fifty, a hundred, sometimes two hundred, — rarely do thev 
amount to a thousand in a single troop ; and these bands divide 
in pursuit, the one of men and tlie other of beasts. They make 
war more as robbers than as' soldiers, and their expeditions ai-e 
rather surprises than regular battles. Their chief glory is in re- 
turning accompanied by captives, men, women and children, 

1 For account of the Dream Feast of the Iroquois as witnessed by Dablon and Chaumonot, 
see Appendix. 



58 

or laden witli the scalps of those whom they have slain in the 
fight.' 

As for the rest, one can only say that there are no greater ob- 
stacles to the success of our missions than the victories they ob- 
tain over their enemies, which only render them insolent ; and 
that there is nothing more desirable for the advancement of 
Christianity in this country than the humiliation of their spirits, 
which breathe only blood and carnage; which glory in killing 
and burning their fellowmen and whose brutal disposition is so 
directly opposed to the meek and humble heart of Jesus Christ. 

We have passed the last winter quiie peaceably, and without 
the alarm into which, ordinarily, the incursions of the Andas- 
togues, who have been long enemies of this nation, have occa- 
sioned us. But last Autumn they sent a messenger with three 
wampum belts to treat for peace. He had been until the month 
of March awaiting a reply in oi'der to return home. But the 
Onondagas having made war with the Andastogues this last 
winter, and having taken fi'om them eight or nine prisoners, pre- 
sented two of them to the inhabitants of Cayuga with forty belts 
of wampum to induce them to continue the war against the 
common enemy. Immediately after this, tliev broke the head 
of the unfortunate messenger whom they had detained for five 
or six months, and who believed himself to be on the eve of 
his departure. His body was buried after his death, and a 
nephew of his, who had accompanied him, shared the same fate 
at the hands of these savages who care but little for the laws 
of nations, and who keep faith no further than it serves their 
own interests. We can truly say that we are among them as 
perpetual victims, since there is no day in which we are not 
in danger of being massacred. But this also is our greatest joy, 
and the spring of our purest consolation. 

1 The smaller parties of six or seven were the most to be dreaded. They would follow the 
trail of an enemy to kill him while he slept, or lie in ambush near a village for an opportu. 
nity to tomahawk, it might be, a woman and her children, when the brave would tly back 
with his companions to hang the trophies in his cabin. It was the danger of such inroads in 
time of war that made every English family on the frontier insecure. 



VI 

The Cayuga mission had from the first a steadfast friend and 
patron in Saoncliiogwa, the chief of the canton, who may be said 
to have stood next to Garacontie, the great Onondaga chieftain, 
in esteem and influence among both the Iroquois and the French. 
His speeches at the general council, which opened the way for 
the establishment of the missions in the several cantons of the 
confederacy, and as the head of the embassy to Montreal for the 
restoration of peace with the French, in 1660, as given in ])revi- 
ous numbers, are fine specimens of Indian sagacity and elo- 
quence. The year 1671 is signalized in the history of the mis- 
sion by the baptism of this distinguished sachem. The event 
took place in Quebec, and was attended with marked solemnities. 
It appears from the Relation for 1671, that in the spring of that 
year, a Seneca embassy headed bv Saonchiogwa, was sent to 
Quebec, to restore some Pottawatamies whom the braves of that 
canton had captured by a surprise and in violation of good faith 
toward the French. The account proceeds to say that as soon 
as Saonchiogwa arrived at Quebec, he labored incessantly to ac- 
quit himself of the commission with which he was charged by 
the Senecas. " He held a council with the Governor, and placed 
in his hands the eight captives with earnest protestations on the 
part of the Senecas of submission and obedience to all his orders. 
The Governor entertained him and his suite, and all things be- 
ing concluded with testimonials of satisfaction on both sides, the 
Chief concentrated all his energies upon the important matter of 
his salvation, to the exclusion of every other subject. He had an 
earnest conference with Father Chaumonot then in charge of the 
Huron Mission. It was not necessary to devote much time for 
his instruction and enlightenment in the knowledge of our holy 
mysteries. He had been well informed concerning them for 
more than fifteen years, even from our first arrival in their conn- 



60 

trv, when it was liis good fortane to be ])resent in the distin- 
guished council of the Five nations at. Onondaga, which Father 
Chaumonot addressed, for two entire hours, in explanation of 
the principal articles of our faith. This Father was listened to 
with a silent and wrapt attention, that was very noticeable, par- 
ticularly in the countenance and eyes of our Catechumen. The 
Chiefs of these nations, each in his turn, repeated, according to 
their custom, the discourse of the Father, but he did this more 
eloquently than all the others. Besides, he has had the advan- 
tage of having been the host of Fathers Rene Menard and Ste- 
phen de Carheil, who formed and nurtured in his nation the 
church of St. Joseph. He had the good fortune to share in all 
the instructions, general and personal, of these Apostolic men. 
He had conversed familiarly with them, and been a witness, da}'' 
and night, of their labors, cares and indefatigable zeal. He had 
seen the marvelous conversions among his cotnpatriots and of 
his nearest kindred, who had embraced the faith and made a 
public profession of the same. But all these favors of heaven 
only served at the time to convince him of the vanity of their 
superstitious customs, and of the superiority of our holy religion, 
without making any efficacious impression on his heart, or in- 
ducing him to abandon the vices common to savage life. Be- 
sides, the spirit he then manifested, which appeai'ed to us crafty, 
politic, adroit and complaisant, compelled us to wait upon divine 
mercy for a more favorable moment to open to him the door of 
salvation in holy baptism. 

In fine, this moment, so much desired, seemed to have come 
with this occasion. He opened his heart to Father Chaumonot, 
declaring in such satisfactory terms his resolution to be a Chris- 
tian, and to renounce forever all the customs of his country not 
in conformity with the holy precepts of the Gospel, that the 
Father was fully persuaded that he s[)oke from his heart. So that 
his Loi'dship the Bishop, thoroughly informed of the whole case, 
deemed it unnecessary to withhold any longer the grace of l)a}> 
tism. He was pleased, therefore, to confer with his own hand 
this sacrament ; and M. Talon, the Intendant, gave him the 
name of Louis. The ceremony was attended with all possible 
solenuiitv, and conclude<l with a magnificent feast which the 



61 

Intendant caused to be prepared in belialf of tlie new convert, 
allowing him the liberty to invite all whom he desired. The Ir- 
oquois, Algonqnius and Hurons, were present in large numbers ; 
and yet so bountiful was the provision, that after liaving par- 
taken abundantly, they carried away enough to feast those who 
remained to guard the cabins." 

The condition of the mission of St. Joseph at Cayuga for this 
memorable year in its history, appears from the annual narrative 
of Father de Carheil, which is as follows: 

" The recent progress of Christianity, in the advancement of the 
faith and the salvation of souls, being all the consolation your 
Reverence expects each year from our missions, I know not how 
to give you greater joy than to inform you of the growth of this 
church, in the number of souls regenerated in the waters of bap- 
tism or rendered eternally happy by a saintly death. If the sal- 
vation of a single soul is a source of greater consolation than all 
the most illustrious achievements of earth, I trust that sixty-two 
to whom I have given the life of grace, and thirty-two who have 
gone to live in glory, will give this abundant joy. The greater 
part of those who died after baptism were children, whose age 
allows of no doubt concerning their happiness. The others were 
adults, whose disposition leads me to believe that they obtained, 
by their voluntary submission to grace, that wliich these little 
innocents received as the sole effect of the sacrament. 

Without stopping to treat of each particular case, the one that 
has appeared to me the clearest, is that of a young woman of 
about twenty-five years of age. She was of an admirable tem- 
per, and of such sweetness of disposition, so entirely devoid of 
the savage, that she appeared more like one nurtured in France 
than in a country of l)arbarians. Before her baptism, she was 
frequent at prayers, and often leading at her side her little 
daughter four or five years of age. This, doubtless, had its in- 
fluence in disposing her the more readily to receive the grace 
of baptism. While still under the impression of Christian truth, 
which little by little found its wa}^ into her mind, she fell sick, 
and in this state I found her on my round of visits through the 
town. She begged me to have pity on her. and give her some 



62 

medicine tliat would cure her. I gave her the medicine, and 
improved the opportunity to instruct her in all our mysteries, 
and more especially of the necessity of baptism. She appeared 
to listen with pleasure to what I said of the nature and value 
of the sacrament. She would readily have allowed me to put a 
little water on her head, if by that means she might be eternally 
happy, and had I demanded nothing besides, would have been 
quite disposed to receive baptism. But, when I added that the 
simple application of water was not sufficient to obtain for us 
eternal happiness or to exempt us from endless pains ; that it was 
necessary, besides to acknowledge the sins one had committed ; to 
have a true sense of sorrow on account of them, and firmly re- 
solve never to repeat them — it was then that her heart, which 
before had hope, felt opposition and resistance. She drew a deep 
sigh, cast a glance of her eye toward me, turned away and hid 
her face, thus compelling me to say no more tlian she was will- 
ing to hear. At this moment, a woman of her cabin having en- 
tered to o})pose my further instructions, I was constrained to re- 
tire. 

Three days passed away before she would allow me to visit 
her for this purpose. In the meanwhile her malady increased, 
and excited in me the earnestness necessary to her salvation, 
which at length had its effect. As all these repulses came from 
the opposition of her will to an enlightened conscience, the fre- 
quent visits I made her, and the desire I manifested for her 
eternal welfare, together with the near a|)proach of death, soft- 
ened her heart and changed its opposition into love. 

One morning as I was visiting her for the purpose of giving 
some further remedies, with the ordinary signs of compassion for 
her, which could avail but little, as lier end was near, she begged 
me to give her all the comfort within my power. This confi- 
dence on her part gave me the opportunity to speak to her again 
of baptism. I found that all her opposition had vanished ; and 
wdiatever difficulty she had experienced in cherishing sorrow for 
sin, and a hatred for the things to which she was attached bv 
inclination and hal)it, God had ]xn-mitted it, only to dispose her 
to exercise her repentance with the greater efficacy and sincerity, 
and assurance of her salvation. Indeed, wlien I came to speak 



63 

to lier the second time of the necessity that she should abhor 
her sins which I indicated, and asked her if she did not detest 
them, as God would have her, to the end that they might be 
waslied away in baptism, I saw that her whole demeanor was 
changed, and the pain I felt on her first refusal to repent was 
recompensed by the greater jo}^ She joined her heart and 
tongue to this word of penitence ; she pronounced it ; she re- 
peated it to herself many times with an inexpressible tenderness 
which penetrated the depths of my soul, and all that I can say 
is, that one must have heard it to understand it. After this, 1 
no longer doubted that she was of the number of the elect. 

I baptized her after a suitable prayer, in which she followed 
me, including all the acts appropriate to prepare her. When 
she saw that I drew near to baptize her, she presented her 
head to receive the water with such a modest expression of 
countenance, that the woi'k of grace was visibly manifest. I re 
mained after baptism no longer than was needful to give her the 
assurance of eternal felicity, and have her repeat a few prayers ; 
and shortly after I had retired, she rendered her soul to Him 
who had sanctified it." 

Father de Carheil had now been three years among the Cavugas, 
when he was obliged from broken health, to relinquish his labors 
for a year, during which his place was supplied by Father Peter 
Eaffeix. Raffeix was chaplain of the French Expedition against 
the Mohawks m 16G6, and, at the time of his taking the Cayuga 
Mission, was laboring among the Senecas, with whom he re- 
sumed his work, on the return of de Carheil, and continued 
among them until 1680. His familiarity with the several can- 
tons of the Iroquois gives interest to the comparison he here 
makes between the Cayugas and the other four nations of the 
confederacy. 

The letter bears date June 24th, 1672.^ He writes : 

Cayuga is the most beautiful country I have seen in America. 
It is situated in latitude 42|-, and the needle dips scarcely more 
than ten degrees. It lies between two lakes, and is no more 
than four leagues wide, with almost continuous plains, bordered 
by fine forests. 

1 Relation 1671-2, Chap. VI, Part 1. 



64 

Agnie (Mohawk) is a valley very contracted : ff^r the most 
part stony, and always covered with fogs; tlie hills that enclose 
it appear to me ver)- bad land. 

Oneida and Onondaga appear too rough and little adapted to 
the chase, as well as Seneca. More than a thousand deer are 
killed every year in tlie neighborliood of Caynga. 

Fishing for both the salmon and the eel, and for other sorts 
of fisli, is as abundant as at Onondaga. Four leagues distant 
from here, on the brink of the river (Seneca), I have seen, with- 
in a small space, eight or ten fine salt fountains. It is there 
that numbers of nets are spread for pigeons, and from seven to 
eight hundred are often caught at a single stroke of the net. 
Lake Tiohero (Cayuga), one of the two adjacent to the village, is 
full fourteen leagues long by one or two wide. It abounds with 
swan' and geese through the winter : and in the sprino-, nothins: 
is seen but continual clouds of all sorts of game. The river 
Ochoueguen (Oswego) which rises in this lake soon branches 
into several channels, surrounded by prairies, with here and there 
fine and attractive bays of sufficient extent for the preservation 
of hunting. 

I find the peo})le of Cayuga more tractable and less liaughty 
than tlie Onondagas or Oneidas: and had God humiliated them, 
as have been the Mohawks, I think that the Faith would have 
been moi'e readily established among them than with any other 
of the nations of the Iroquois. They count more than three 
hundred warriors and a prodigious swarm of little children. 

As to the spiritual, and that which appertains to the Mission, 
I hardly know what to say. God having withdrawn from it, 
first, Father Menai'd at the connneneemeiit of his successful la- 
bors, and since then, nearly a year ago. Father de Carheil, after 
he had mastered the language and favorably dis|){)sed the hearts 
of these l)arl)arians toward thcii- sjiKation, I cnniiot tliink that 
tlie hour of tlieii' conversion has yet ai'rivcd. In ordei" to re- 
move a jirejudii-e to Christianity, created among our catechu- 
mens and neoi)hitcs by some slaves, captives from the Neuter 

1 Now accidental or very rare. A siimle si)e('iiiioii of the trmnijeter swan (Cj'smis Bucci- 
nator) taken on Cayuga Lake, is now in the rooms of the Phcenix Sportsmen's Club of Sen- 
eca Falls, N. Y.—JHnlf' of Veniral New York, by Prank R. Rathbnn, A\ibui-n, 1879. 



65 

Nation, and some renegade Ilurons, I liave introduced the chant 
of the Church with an arrangement of tlie several prayers and 
liyrnns, in their language, })ertaining to the chief mysteries of our 
faith. It was on the first day of the year that we presented for 
a Xew Year's offering to our Loi-d, songs of ])raise, which we 
have since continued witli proht, and much to the satisfaction 
of our savages. 

I am occupied tlie most of eacli day in visiting tlie siek. to 
give them the ])ro})ei" instruction, in order that thev mav not die 
without receiving baptism.^ God did not })ermit me to succeed 
witli the first one whom I visited on my arrival here, and who 
died soon after. I went to see him many times and commenced 
witli the necessary course of instruction. But his mother would 
not permit it. (3ne day, as I remained with the sick person a 
longer time than suited her mind, she seized a stick to drive me 
out, and her daughter, at the same time, threw a large stone, 
whicli, however, failed to hit me. I seized every op]3ortunity 
to mak'c an impression. I s})oke in different interviews to this 
wretclied mother, beseeching her to liave pity on her son. But 
she remained inflexible to tlie last. Thus this poor young man 
died without baptism, at least tlie actual administration. It 
seems as if the curse of God rested u})on tins cal)iii — the same 
in which Father de Carheil had been treated with still greater 
indignity than myself, and for a like reason. 

Some time after this affliction, which greatly grieved me, it 
pleased G()d to console me by the conversion of a prisoner of 
war, a young mau from twent}' to twenty-two years of age. I 
lia^'c never found a savage more docile. They chopped off the 
half of one hand, and tore out his finger nails, while a crowd of 
people surrounded him on all sides, and demanded that he 
should sing to them. In the intervals in wdiich tliey allowed 
him to take breath, I seized the occasion to instruct him. It 
appeared in the midst of all this torture that he retained the 
presence of mind to appreciate the Christian truth that I taught 

1 The life of the Jesuit missionary was simple and uniform. Tlie earliest hoixrs from four 
to eight were occupied in private devotions. The day was given to visiting the sick, in- 
structing the catechumens, and a service for proselytes. It is said of Brebeuf that sometimes 
he would walk through a Huron village and its environs, inviting the braves and principal 
ones to a conference, when he would discuss with them the deeper mysteries of ;he Faith 



6(3 

him. At last, I was so well satisfied tliat I baptized liim. This 
<:ave liiin such jc^v that he pu1)licly thanked me, even singing of 
the love I had shown him.' 

I count thirty, both children and adults, to whom God has 
given the same grace, since the departure of Father de Carheil. 
I trust that this troop of little innocents will move Clod at last, 
by the prayers they make to him, to hasten the time for the 
conversion of these barbarians, which as yet does not seem to 
be near. To believe that an entire nation is to be converted at 
once, and to expect to make Christians by the hundreds and 
thousands in tins country, is to deceive one's self. Canada is 
not a land of flowers ; to find one, you must walk far among 
brambles and tliorns. Persons of exalted virtue find here 
enough to call out their zeal. The less Avorthy, like my- 
self, are happy in finding themselves com])elled to suffer much, 
to l)e without consolation save in God alone, and to labor inces- 
santly for ])ersonal sanctification. I sincerely beg your Rev- 
erence, to retain me in this blessed service all my life, and to be 
assured that this is the greatest favor tliat can be conferred upon 
me. I will add a word (sa^'S the Father) to give you some ac- 
count of our petty wars. 

The day of Ascension, twenty Senecas anil forty of our young 
braves, went from this town to make an attack upon the An- 

1 Brebeuf describes the torture of an Iroquois prisoner taken by the Hurons in 163". with 
eight otliers while fishing in the Iroquois Lake. All but this one made their escape. On the 
way to the cabins of his conquerors, the hands of the prisoner were crushed between stones, 
his fingers torn off, his arms scorched and gashed to the bone, while he himself preserved his 
tranquillity and sang the songs of his nation. At one village after another, festivals were 
given in his name, at which they compelled him to sing. A young maiden was given him as 
a componion of his last loves. The old chief who might have adopted him in place of a fall- 
en nephew chose rather to gratify his revenge, and doomed him to death. "That is well," 
was the captive's reply. The sister of the slain wnrrior. in whose place it had been pro- 
posed to receive him, still treated him with the tenderness due to a brother, offering him 
food, and serving him with every token of affection. The father caressed him as though he 
had become his kinsman, gave him a pipe and wiped the thick drops of sweat from his face. 
This last entertainment given at the charge of the bereaved chief began at noon. To the 
crowd of guests, he declared : "My brothers, I am going to die. Make merry around me 
with good heart. I am a man. I fear neither death nor your torments ;'' and then sang 
aloud. The feast being ended he was conducted to the cnbin of blood. They place him on 
a mat and bind his hands. He then rises to his feet and dances around the cabin chanting 
his death song. At eight in the evening eleven fires had been kindled and these are hedged 
in by files of spectators. A war chief now strips the prisoner, assigns their office to the tor- 
mentors aud exhorts them to do their work faithfully. Then ensued a scene most horrible, 
lasting until sunrise, when the wretched victim was carried out of the village and hacked to 
pieces.— ft/Y^'o/i, 1637, Chap. II, 109-119. 



67 

dastes, whose country is four days' journey from here. The 
Senecas, who formed a band by themselves, the others liayino' 
previoush' gone l)y water, were attacked l)y a party of sixty 
young Andastes, from fifteen to sixteen years of age, and put to 
flight with a h)ss of two of their men — one killed on the spot 
and the other carried away prisoner, l^'he youtliful yictors, 
learning that the band of the Cayugas had gone by water,' im- 
mediately took to their canoes in hot pursuit, and oyertaking 
them beat them in the fight. Eight of the Cayugas w^ere slain 
in their canoes, and fifteen or sixteen wounded by arrows and 
knives or half killed l)y strokes of the hatchet. The field of 
battle was left wdth the Andastes, with a loss, it is said, of fif- 
teen or sixteen of their number. God preserves the Andastes 
who have barely three hundred men of war. He favors their 
arms to humble the Iroquois, and preserve to us peace and our 
missions.^ 



1 Via Cayuga L;ike and the Susquehannah river. 

- Every success of a war party was a loss to the Faith and every reverse was a gain. Mean- 
while a more repulsive or a more critical existence than that of Jesuit Father in an Iro- 
quois town is scarcely conceivable. The torture of prisoners turned into a horrible festivi- 
ty for the whole tribe ; foul and crazy orgies in which as the priest thought, the powers 
of darkness took special delight ; drunken riots the work of Butch brandy, when he was 
forced to seek refuge from death in his chapel— a sanctuary which superstitious fear with- 
held the Indians from violating ; these and a thousand disgusts and miseries filled the 
record of his days and he bore them all in patience.— OW Rec/ime in Canada, 317-318. 



YII. 

Tliere is necessarily some repetition in tliese annual narratives 
of the Avork of tlie niissionarv whose life was a simple ]'oun(l of 
the same dnties with suhstantiallv the same obstacles to success, 
and the evei- impendin^u' peril of death at the will and even whim 
of the savage. But this verv monotony of duties and danger 
only serves to exalt the devotion ;md courage of the missionary, 
while there is sufficient variety of light and shade in his ex])eri- 
enees to give vividness and great interest to the whole picture. 

xVfter writing the letter just given. Father liaffeix })roceeded 
to tJie Seneca country to assist Father (larnier ; and Father de 
Carheil, after a year's respite, returned to the mission with re- 
stored health. The record is that "finding human skill una- 
vailing, he made a pilgrimage to the slirine of St. Anne' and oh- 
t^nined deliverance from the nervous disorder which afflicted 
him." He resumed his lal)ors at Cayuga with characteristic zeal, 
and in the face of increasing opposition as appears from the fol- 
lowing letter contained in Relation 1672-3^ Chap. YI. 

'' The number of baptized this ^^ear is fifty-five, of whom eleven 
are adults, the rest are children, of whom thirteen received l)ap- 
tism in the chapel with the ceremonies, the others without cere- 
monies. I had not yet until this year been able to baptize any 
one except secretly, and Avitliout any one l)eing cognizant of it 
except those from whom I could not conceal it, when necessity 
and an CA-ident danger of death obliged me to prepare them for 

1 St. Anne, about twenty miles below Quebec, on the St. Lawrence, is the place here re- 
ferred to. Parknnin found the old chapel still etandint? in 1873. but about to he replaced by 
a new and nnich larger one in course of erection. It is said that thirteen Canadian par- 
ishes bear the name of St. Anne, but of all her shiines, none have the fame or receive the 
devotion whicli attach to this, nestled under the heights of the Petite Ca|). 

- Rdation ce qui it'est paxne de plus remarqiiable atix MUsiom des Pere^ de la Compaf/nh de 
.TeMis en la Nouvelle France es annees 1672 et 1673. Par le Rev. PeVe Claude Dablon, New York, 
IHil. This Relation was printed by Dr. Shea, from an unpublished manuscript ; also the Ke- 
latious for 1673-16;9, from which extracts have been translated by him for the present work. 



69 

this sacrament by a previous instruction ^vitll wliicli I could not 
dispense, on account of their too advanced age. I Avas com- 
pelled to act in this manner to avoid the calumnies which hell 
raised up against me and against baptism, l)y the universal idea 
Avhich he had ini}>rinted on all minds that this lirst and most 
necessary of all sacraments had not the advantageous effects 
which I declared to them; but others quite contrary, which I 
concealed in order to bring them to it more easily, and of which 
tha chief two which sprang from it as their source, were a speedy 
death and an eternal captivity, after death, under the domination 
of the French. As the rage of the deuK^ns eould invent nothing 
more coiiti-ary to the salvation of the souls of my dear mission 
than this thought, tlierefore I could hope to do nothing for the 
establishment and advancement of the Faith except by banishing 
it from their minds, or at least gradually diminishing it, although 
from all the efforts I had made to this end in previous years, I 
could not see any success, and this year even, I could hope for it 
still less than ordinarily l)ecause sickness and deaths had been 
more frecpient than before. Yet I do not know how Providence 
has acted, l)ut it lias done me the grace (in spite of all the false 
rumors which have been spread against me more than usually) to 
infuse into the heart of some mothers dispositions wliicli I could 
not expect from my endeavors. There have been tliirteen who 
liave asked me for their children what they did not yet wisli to 
ask for themselves ; they liave besought me to ba})tize them, 
In'inging them to me in tlie chapel. This prayer could not but 
be infinitelv aofreeable to me, as it was a first stei) in effacing: 
from minds all the false impressions against baptism, to remove 
the aversion towards it and to produce the love and esteem for 
it which I desired ; but as nothing should be done precipitately, 
I never granted on the spot what they asked me. I have al- 
wavs put them off to some coming holidov. in <)i"der bv this de- 
lay to make them conceive a better idea of what I wished to 
grant them and which I in fact granted on tlie app(^inted day, 
baptizing theii' children with the ceremonies and even making 
some who were ca])able, answer the interrogations which arc to be 
made therein. There are still other mothers who solicit at my 
hands b;q)tism for their children, and to whom I granted it in time. 



70 

having learned by experience that those whose chiklren are bap- 
tized, have much greater respect for a missionary, and conse- 
quently a greater disposition for the Faith than the others, inas- 
much as they esteem themselves as it were bound, according to 
what I told them, to come and Itring their little baptized ones 
to the prayer if they are not of an age to come to it themselves 
or to receive tliem there if they can do so. 

As for tlie eleven adults whom 1 ba})tized, they are all dead, 
inasmuch as I no longer baptize any except in danger of imme- 
diate death, apart from which I find none who are susceptible of 
all the dispositions necessary to baptism. License in marrying 
and unmarrying at their option, the spirit of murder, and hu- 
man respect prevent their becoming docile to instructions. Of 
the children ba})tized eighteen are dead, who, added to the 
adults, make in all twenty-nine ; but I nuist avow that what con- 
soles me most during this year w\as the death of a young war- 
rior of the age of twenty-five years. He was attacked by a mal- 
ady which, causing him to languish a considerable time, gave 
me leisure to instruct him gradually. He always listened to me 
without repulsing me, but also without evincing conviction from 
what I said to him, like a person who wishes to examine and 
determine for himself whether what is told him is reasonable. 
He remained in this state, until seeing him fail, I deemed it my 
duty to })ress him the more, but always in sucli a way as to con- 
strain him gently (In* a simple representation of the importance 
of the truths wliich I taught him, and conformable to his intel- 
ligence) to ask me for baptism of his own accord. He did in 
fact solicit it, and I Ijaptized him witli all the greater assurance 
of his good disposition as I have had more time to pre})are him, 
and as I knew that he had examined all tliat I had taught him. 
He remained some days after his baptism without his disease 
seeming to increase notably, when I myself fell into such a pros- 
tration of strength that I was obliged to take to my bed in or- 
der to get a little rest so as to restc^re mc. But the very day I 
wished to do so, my patient, feeling himself much more oppressed 
than usual, and liaving no doubt l)ut that it was the last day of 
his life, sent about nine o'clock in tlic nioniing to beg me to go 
anil visit him in his cabin. I went there at once, when he de- 



71 

clared to me tliut he was conscious that he was near death and 
entreated me to do all I knew to he necessary for his eternal 
happiness in heaven, as he had a strong hope of attaining it 
through iny instrumentality. 

I was ravished at his dis})()sition, and according to his desire 
began to repeat to him summarily our principal mysteries and 
to make him exercise upon each of them acts of faith in the 
form of })rayer, after which I questioned him as to what he 
might have committed since his baptism that might be displeas- 
ing; to God ; and I warned him that if he had not conceived a 
genuine sorrow for the sins he had committed before baptism 
that he should d(j so now; otherwise it would be useless to him 
to have been baptized. He assured me that before I ba})tized 
him, he had formed a true act of sorrow for his sins and that he 
continued in this sorrow, Ijoth as to them and to those he had 
committed since baptism. I then gave him absolution, after 
which he begged me not to leave him until he was dead, l)ut to 
remain constantly with him and not cease to pra}' or ti^ make 
him pray, as I did from nine o'clock in the morning until four 
o'clock in the afternoon when he died. During all that time, if 
I wished to breathe a little for a few moments' relaxation, he 
would immediately warn me to begin again, and consoled me 
infinitely by this eagerness which could proceed only from the 
Holv Ghost who, in spite of his disease, attracted him power- 
full v to the prayers which I recited aloud and in his name, be- 
cause he could no longer do this lymself. From time to time 
he rallied his strength to ask me al)out Heaven, in order that I 
might confirm him in the ho})e of going thither, and that I 
might increase the consolation which he derived therefrom. 
Towards the end he had moments of such intense ])ain that it 
made him burst out into words of impatience, which I stopped 
immediately by telling him that this impatience displeased God, 
and that he ought to bear the sufferings he experienced in order 
to satisfy for his past sins. He acquiesced readily ; he conceive^l 
sorrow for his outbursts, and I gave him absolution, after which 
he remained calm until death, without showing the least sign of 
inqn^tience, however great the pain caused by his disease. I 
closed his eyes; and I could not refrain from eml)racing and 



kissing liiiu when I saw lie was dead, so great was the joy I felt, 
and the assurance tliat he would })i-ay earnestly lor nie before 
God, according to the promise which lie had nia<le me." 

In Chap. Y, Sec. 2 of Relation 1673-9,' Father Dablon quotes 
the account of the conversion and death of this young warrior 
from the above letter of Carheil as a remarkable illustration of- 
thc power tliat the Faith once embraced has .over the converted 
savao'e. " The hope of Paradise," he writes, "gives the Iroquois 
converts inconq)aral:)le courage, and once they have emljraced 
the Christian religion in earnest, they hold fast to it courage- 
ouslv in view of Paradise, and in the hope of the eternal ha})}ii- 
ness wliicli Faith })romises us." 

The following extracts from the Rehdions Tnedites' continue 
tlie historv of the mission for the years KiTo and KiTI. 

"Although the numl)er()f lja2)tisms has been, this year, less in 
this mission than the preceding years, the Faith has not failed 
tx:) make there more solid progress than in the ])ast. For while 
it was but the ol)ject of contempt and even of hatred on the 
part of the Indians, it has l)egun to l)e esteemed and sought l)y 
the majority. There have been indeed only twenty-two chil- 
dren l)aptized; l)ut all except three or four have been baptized 
at the request of their parents. This circumstance will appear 
important if reflection is made on what has been several times 
noted, viz : the fear which all the Indians are under who have 
not embraced tlie Faith, lest their children should be baptized, 
im})ressed as they are with the idea that baptism will cause their 
death. But it will appear still more important if the genius of 
these barbai'ous tribes is known, their scanty enlightenment 
making them more susceptible of such fears and less capable of 
getting rid of them. Moreover ex})erience seems to aid in con- 
firminu' them in this o}ii)ii()n, l)ecause in this heathen countrv 
this sacrament of Faith is given only to those among the chil- 
dren wlio a})pear to be at the point of death, and because in fact 

1 lielatioii de ce qui «' eH jxiSf^e clesphis remarqnable aux missions des Peres de la Conrpagnie 
de Jesus en la Nouvelle France es amwes 1673 a 1679 Par le Rev. Pere Claude Dablon, New York, 
ISfiO.— (Shea's edition.) 

- Bclations Jnedites de In Nouvelle Franiy (1672-l(i79) pourfaire suite au.r andennes Eelations 
(1615-1()73) acec deux caiiei Geof/rajt/iiquex Paris IStil. — Vol. I. 26li-8, II, 41-44. 



almost all to wlioui it is given die inevitably tliereafter. Hence 
it comes that the affection they have for their chiklren, which 
amounts to a kind of foil v. has always induced them to use all 
their efforts to prevent their reeeivino- this grace. As for the 
adults, the five who were Tjaptized all died after baptism. Three 
were Andastes taken in war; Father de Carheil had time to in- 
sti'uct tliem liefore they were burned. Many of the same coun- 
try wlio had escaped after sonic months captivity, had told them 
(,)f the charity that the Black-gowns had for them as well as for 
the Iroquois. They had related the acts of kindness which 
the Fathers had done them and the pains they took to assist 
them in all imaginable ways. This report had disposed them 
to a much greater docility than had hitherto l)een manifested bv 
the other ca})tives. There was even one who thanked tlie 
Father in his death chant for the services he had rendered him, 
saying that he knew well that he loved them, and that the 
French nation was not of the nund)er of their enemies.'' 

The Retaiion 1075, (vol. ii. p. -11— i,) introduces the nari-ative 
for the year with the statement: "Father de Carheil is not so 
ha})})y among the fourth nation, which is that of the Oiogouens. 
They have l)ecome so haughty and so insolent that thev have 
maltreated him quite rudely, when they were in a state of in- 
toxication, they have even thrown down a part of the chapel. 
But tliese insults do not make him lose courage, and as a re- 
ward Cto<1 has a'iven him the consolation to have sent twentv- 
one children to heaven this y(\ai", and probably eleven adults, 
dead after bai)tism, thouu'h it has not been without liaktino- 
many battles. 

Thus does he describe the (hHiculty he hail toba})tizea voung 
woman, Iw which other cases may be judged. She vielded, he 
says, only at the last moment, and I won her only })\ jiatience, 
by gentleness and by constancy in hoping for what all tlie re- 
pulses I suffered had several times all but made me despair of. 
She readily })ermitted me to visit her, and after I had given her 
some medicines, she allowed me to s|)eak of every other sul^ject 
except the chief one which was the salvation of her soul. As 
soon as T opened nu' luouth to insinuate a few words concern- 
ing this, she flew iuto a passion that was surprising and sucli as 



74 

I had never observed in uny Imliaii. I was compelled to retire 
iustantlv for fear of irritating her still more, and rendering her 
ohdnrate l)evi>nd reme<lv. As her disease was only a languor 
caused by the worms which were insensibly devouring her, two 
months })assed without my desisting to visit her daily, and with- 
out her ceasing to repulse me in the same manner and even with 
redoubled rage, which at last forced mc to present myself sim- 
ply l)efore her witliout uttering a word. Yet I endeavored to 
tell hci' with \n\ eves and with a countenance full of com})assion 
what I no longer durst tell her with my lips. And as one day 
she seemed slightly touched by some little services that I was 
rendering her, by building the lire, in the forsaken condition in 
which I saw her, no one any longei- caring for her. I thought 
that she would suffer me to speak to her of what T solely de- 
sired for her and what she had always repulsed with horror. In 
fact, she let me a})})roach her, and listened to me for a consider- 
able time witlumt flying into her accustomed passion, but yet 
with agitations of body that disclosed the state of her mind, in 
which grace and nature were in conflict. I was beginning to 
cherish some slight hope, when turning in fury upon me she 
seized mv face with all the energy of which she was capable, 
and she would assuredly have wounded me seriously had her 
strength equalled her rage, but she was too weak to do me the 
injurv she desired. Her weakness caused me to give up my 
face to her, while I continued my instruction telling her that the 
interest I felt in her soul ol)liged me, do what she would, not to 
leave her. I was however compelled to leave her this time also, 
with the thought of returning to her no more. Yet! did n(n. 
fail to return the next morning rather to see whether she was 
dead than to speak to lier. I found her in extremis, yet withont 
having lost consciousness. "Well," I said to her, "you have 
Init a moment to live, why will you lose your soul forever, when 
vou can still save it?'" These few words softened her heart, 
which so manv others had failed to shake. She leaned over 
towards me, she made the })raycr which I suggested to her. 
evinced sorrow for her }»ast sins, asked baj)tism to efface them 
and received it to be conlirnuMl in grace l)y the death which 
(piic-kly cnsuc(l. 



to 

I have learned liy the example of this sick woman that I 
should never abandon any one, whatever resistance die mav of- 
fei\ so long as there is left a renmant of life and reason, and 
that mv hope and ni)' labors should ha^'e no limit, save that 
which (rod sets to Jlis mercy." 

In Chap. V. Section vii. of Relation 1673 this case is cited as 
an illustration of the qualities of a faithful missionary, as that 
of the young warrior already quoted in this cha})ter, as proof 
of the virtue and constancy of the Indian converts. The Iro- 
quois missionaries, it says, acquire especiallv two, which are 
very singularly theirs. The first is a holy address to seize dili- 
gently and profit by every occasion, so as to allow no sick per- 
son or child to die without bayitism. The other is a heroic }ia- 
tience to suffer everything, and be repulsed by nothing, when 
the salvation of a soul is at stake, never losing hope, whatever 
the opposition, but await the time of grace. 

In lielations Inediles, Vol. II, p. 11, Daljlon in a letter to the 
Provincial Father Pinette, wi'ites : " Further on we find the 
town of Oiogouin where Father de Carheil resides. This holv 
man is of an apostolic zeal which does not find that the Indians 
correspond to his care ; but I think that he asks from them too 
much virtue for beginnings. If lie does not sanctify as manv 
of them as he would, it is certain that he sanctifies himself in a 
good degree as do Fathers Garnier and Raffeix in the towns of 
the Sonnontouans," (Senecas). 

All that remains to be gathered from the Relations concern- 
ing the Cayuga Mission may be found in the brief notices con- 
tained in the present number, and in connection with the gen- 
eral history of the Iroquois Missions. Thus in Rdation 1(376-7' 
printed by James Lenox, Esq., of New York, from the original 
manuscript, we have the following : 

'• The up})er Ircxpiois, that is to say those that are most remote 
from us, as the Sonnontouans and the Oioguens are the most 
hanghty and the most insolent, running after the missionaries 
with axe in hand, chasing and pelting them with stones, throw- 

1 Relation, de ce qui s'eH passe des pliie remarquable axx missions des Peres de la Coiiiimgnie 
de Jesus, en la Xoi/relle France es annees 1676 e( 1677. 



/ t ) 

iiig down tlieir chapels and tlieiv little eal)ins, and in a thousand 
other ways treating them with indignity. 

The Fathers suffer all and are ready for all, knowing well 
that the Apostles did not plant the faith in the world otherwise 
than hy pei'secntion and suffering. What consoles them in the 
])itial)le state they are in, is to see the fruit which God derives 
for His glorv and f<n* the salvation of tlu-se ^'ery Indians by 
whom they are so nuiltreated. For within a year since these 
violences have l)egun, they have l)a})tized more than three hun- 
dred and fifty Iroquois, of whom, besides twenty-seven adults, 
there were one hundred and seventy children who died aftei' 
baptism, which is a certain gain for heaven. I cannot extract 
anything else from Fatlier de Carheil, Pierron, Eafteix and Gar- 
nier who are among the ujiper rro([uois, because their greatest 
employment is to suffer and, so to s})cak, die at every moment 
by the contiiund threats and the insults which these Indians of- 
fer them, who, notwithstanding all tliis, fail not to wrest many 
souls from the devil. Father de Carheil writes from Oiognen 
that the spiritual gain of this year is thirty-eight baptized, six of 
them adults and thirty-six dead, ;dl children except three." 

The notice of tlie mission in 1677-8 is still briefer, but of 
the same general tone: "Father de Carheil who has experienced 
most severelv the effects of Iroriuois furv, and wlio for the last 
two years is ever in a })roximate danger of death, has not failed 
to administer at Oiogouin ba])tism to fiftv persons, and to send 
to heaven more than forty children who have died with ba})- 
tismal grace."" — Kelations IiKxliies 11, 197. 

In chap. Y. sec. viii of RcJalions 1678-9, (Sliea"s edition) Da- 
blon thus sums u]) the condition of the se^■eral missions : 

"By all that avc \\'a\v rclatcil. it mav be jndgcd that the Iro- 
quois missions i-cndcr great glory to (rod and eoiitribnte largely 
to the sah'ation of souls. I'his encoui'agcs the missionaries 
amid tlie evident dangei- of death in which they have lived con- 
stantly foi' tlux'C vears that the Iroipiois sp(\ik of making war 
onus: so that they ha\-e not been willing to h'a\-e theii' mis- 
sions, although tluy wer(> nrge*! ly tlieir friends, who waiaied 
them of the evil designs formetl ;iw;ijiist \\\r\v persons. 'I'he}' 
accordingly persevere in laboring loi' the eoiiN-ei-sion of these 



pe<)})les, and we leani tliat (xod lias i\'\vanl(^«l their eoiistaiicv bv 
a. little oaliii wliieli He g-iv(\< tlicm. and 1)\- move than three 
hundred l)aptisins wliieh they liave eonferred this last year, to 
^^■hicll I add that the yirecediiig year they had baptized three 
hundred and fifty Iroquois. The year l)etV)re, Father Gar- 
nier had baptized fifty-five in one of the towns of the Sonnon- 
touans ; Father de Carheil as many at Oiogouen ; Father Milet 
forty-five at Oneiout (Oneida): Father James de Lamberville, 
more than thirty at one of the towns of Agnie (Mohawk), and 
Father Bruyas in another eighty: Father John de Lamberville 
seventy-two at Onnontage, and Father Piei-ron ninety at Son- 
nc^ntouan. It is estimated that they have })laeed in heaven 
more than two hundred souls of ehildren and siek adults, all 
dead after Tiaptism."' 

Idle ^Mission at Cayuga for the remaining l)rief. period of its 
eontinuanee was unmarked l;)y any striking event, the obstinate 
and haughty spii'it of the people being the Same, until about the 
year 168-1, when Father de Carheil who for sixteen vears had 
labored so faithfully for their good, was plundered of every 
thing and driven from the country bv Orehaoue' and Sarennoa 

I The same referred to in note page 39. Father John de Lamberville of Onondaga, in a 
letter to M. de hi Barre, Feb. 10, 16S4, writes : " Tlie man named Oreliaoue of Cayuga, 
told me also he intended to visit yon at ^Montreal. It is he who made Father de Carheil to 
withdraw from Caynga and who treacherously brought the six Tionnontates there. lie is ex- 
ceedingly proud. Sorrenna and he are the two greatest chiefs in Caynga. It is this Orehaoue 
that the English of Albany made nse to prevent Penn purchasing land of the Andastes. who 
were conquered by the Iroquois and the English of Marj-land. I believe he will be better 
pleased with yon than \\ith the English after he shall have had the honor of an interview 
with you. I told him that if he ■should wish to see Father d& Carheil yon would send for 
him to come t') Montreal. He has great influence among the Cayugas and has conceived a 
profound esteem for you as a great Captain, which he also piques himself to be. Your dex- 
terity and experience in winning over all these various characters, will attach him to you, I 
believe, most intimately, and he will be convinced that Onontio of Canada is quite a diil'er- 
eut thing from the Burgomasters of Orange, (Albany) whose civilities in his regard are the 
never ending subject of his praise." (Col. Hist. N. Y., IX, 2i7.) M. de la Barre » as soon suc- 
ceeded by M. Denonville as Governor General, who, in 16S7, under the guise of peace and 
friendship attracted to Ganneout. some ten leagues above Fort Frontenac, a number of Iro- 
quois, and some forty Cayugas were seized as prisoners, among whom was Orehaoue, and sent 
to France. (Col. Hist. IST. Y., IX, 171.) But in 1689, Orehaoue and his companions were re- 
leased from their captivity by the King on learning of the circumstances of their seizure, and 
they arrived at Quebec, Oct. 12th of that year with Count Frontenac, who had been re-ap- 
pointed Governor of Canada. The kind treatment received at the bauds of the Count on the 
voyage attached Orehaoue very strongly to him and served greatly to conciliate him toward 
the French. At his own suggestion and with the approval of Frontenac. a commission con- 
sisting of four Indians of the returne 1 cajitives and Gagniegaton.was sent to Onondaga with 
the news of Orehaoue's return, inviting his tribe to come and welcome their father the Gov- 



78 

the two head chiefs at tlie time of the Cayuga canton.. This was 
doubtless due to English intrigue. In 1683, Col. Thomas Don- 
gan, govenior of New York liad so far succeeded in destro^ung 
the influence of the French with thc^ Iroc^uois that, though him- 
self a Catholic, lie directed all his efforts to expel the Canadian 
missionaries; and to inspire the Indians with confidence, he 
promised to send them English Jesuits instead, and build them 
churches in their cantons. As a resnlt the Oneida and Seneca 
missions were broken u}) a year l)efore the expulsion of Father 
de Carlieil from Cayuga. Father John Lamberville was the 
last to leave his })ost, at Onondaga, where his life was })ut in 
peril, owing to the alleged treacliery (^n tlie part of the French 
in seizing a number of Iroquois as })risoners and taking them 
to Fort Catarocoui. 

In concluding tlie history of the mission at Cayuga, so long 
the scene of the labors of Father de Carheil, a sketch of this ac- 
complished and intrepid missionary is herewith appended. He 
came from France to Quebec in 1()5() and was immediately sent 
to the Hurons among whom he acquired great influence, and 
who gave him the name of Aondechete. In 1667, he accom- 



enior, whom they had so long missed, and thank him for his goodness in restoring to them 
a chief whom they had supposed irrecoverably lost. The deputation brought back word ex- 
pressing the great joy felt by tlie Five Nations at the return of Orehaoue whom they still re- 
garded as chief of their country, but demanding his prompt return to them and that he be 
accompanied by a messenger and all who had been his companions in captivity, when furth- 
er consultation would be had in the matter. It was also demanded that full reparation be 
made for the treacherous seizure of the prisoners at CJanneout, before any further negotia- 
tions could be had. Frontenac was greatly mortifled at this turn of affairs, and for the time 
was disposed to blame Orehaoue as either insensible to the kindness shown him or as want- 
ing in influence with his nation. The great war chief himself was chagrined as he felt the 
justice of the rebuke ; but without evincing the least annoyance, counselled Frontenac to 
remember that on his return from France he had found the cantons bound by an alliance 
with the English and so embittered against the French, whose treachery had driven them to 
contract this alliance, that it became necessary to trust to time and circumstances for a 
more favorable disposition ; that for his own part he could reproach himself with nothing : 
that his ref nsal to return to his own canton where he was passionately desired should banish 
every suspicion of his fidelity ; and if. notwithstanding so unmistakable a token of his attach- 
ment to the French, they were so unjust as to entertain any such suspicions he would soon 
dispel them. Orehaoue renounced his own peoi)Ie and became firmly attached to the cause of 
the French. He was active in hostile operations against the Iroquois, and sucli was his valor 
that the otlier tribes demanded him for their chief. He died at (Juebec, in 1698, from an at- 
tack of pleurisy, after a brief illness, greatly lamented as "a worthy Frenchman and a good 
Christian ;" and as a mark of distinction for his fidelity and eminent service was buried with 
ecclesiastical and military honors.— See Vol. Hixt. N. Y., IX, ^fil, 524, OSl ; also Shea's Char- 
levoh; IV, 1.51, 203, 212, 24'i. 



79 

])aiiie(l Garacontie, the Onondaga chief, froiu (Quebec and the 
following year was assigned to Cayuga. After liis expulsion 
from this canton, he was transferred to the Ottawa mission and 
was stati(Mied at Miehilmakinae. lie stood in the very front 
rank of the Jesuit Fathei'S of his time, and wa- distinguished 
alike for his scholarly attainments and his saintly devotion. 
He died at Quebec in 172(1 at an advanced age. 

Charlevoix, the historian of New France, pays this touching 
tril)ute to his character: 

''I left this missionary at Quebec in 1721, in the })rlme of his 
vigor and apostolic zeal ; yet liow clearly had his life illustrated 
tlie truth, that men the most holy and most estimable for their 
})ersonal qualities are but instruments in the hands of Go(h with 
whom He can as easily dispense as with His most un|)i'oiitable 
servants. He had sacrificed noble talents through which he 
might have attained high honors in his profession, and looking" 
forward oidy to the martyr fate of many of his brethren, wlio 
had bedewed Canada with tlieir blood, he had, against the wish- 
es and larger designs of his Superiors, obtained tliis mission 
wiiose obscurity thus ])lace(l him far without the circh* of am- 
bitious strife, and could ])resent to him naught l)ut the hard- 
ships of the Cross. Here he had labored persistently for more 
than sixty years, and could speak the language of the Hurons 
and the Irorpiois with as much facility and elegance as his na- 
tive tongue. The Frencli and the Indians alike regarded liim 
as a saint and a genius of the highest order. Yet with all tliese 
accomplishments, liis conversions were very few. He liumili- 
ated himself before God, and this mortification of pride served 
more and more to sanctify his life. ■ He often declared to me, 
that he adored these manifest designs of Providence toward 
him, persuaded as he was, that the lionors and success he might 
liave attained upon a more brilliant arena would have resulted 
in the loss of his soul ; and that this thought was his unfailing 
consolation amid the sterile results of his long and toilsome 
apostolate. 

"I have deemed it my duty to record this bright example, 
that those now entering upon the calling of an evangelist may 
understand "that no years and no toils can be lost, if thr(_)ugh 



80 

thcrn all thov attain saiiitliiu^ss of character; that the ronver- 
sioii «i[' souls is ah)iie the work of ^u'raee ; that no natural talent, 
nor even tlie snblirnest ^•irtnes, can have any ])0\ver to melt hard 
hearts, except as God himself may give them efficiency; and 
that amid all tlieir fruitless toils, they should ever remember, 
that those ministering angels Avho draw from the very l:)OSom of 
Divinity the lieavenly fire, a single spark of which would suffice 
to draw the Avhole world to the end)race of tlie Divine Love, 
and to whom the guardianshi[) of nations, as of individuals, is 
comnutted — even those holy angels often are left to mourn over 
the lilindness of unbelievers an<l the obduracy of their sinful 
hearts."' 

A similar estimate of his genius and devotion is to he found 
in the Relations Inedites Vol. II, 3()7-9, which is as follows : 

"Although Father de Carheil wrote nothing, at least nothing 
of his has reached us, he studie<l thoroughly the languages of 
those countries, and is cited by many writers as constituting an 
authoritv in sucli matters. 

•'IMiis Father enjoyed in France the n^putation of an excel- 
lent litterateur ; he might have tak(_'ii his place l)eside the \i\- 
vasseurs, the (Jonimiivs, the Jouvancys, the de la Hues, Ijut he 
sighed onlv h)r the painful missions of New France. The rec- 
tor of the college of Tannes, where he taught humanities, op- 
posed the de})arture of the young professor: and there exists in 
the archives of the (jresu at Rome, a letter from the Father Gen- 
eral of the Jesuits, which authorized the Provincial of the Prov- 
ince of France to leave Father de Carheil still at the college of 
Yannes, l)ut without this leading to any result, and without in- 
ducing ns to believe that distinguishe(l talents were a motive 
for excluding one from the foreign missions. It was probably 
to enter into the views of his General that the Father Provin- 
cial according to the pious desires of the young religious, per- 
mitted him the following yeai' to set out for Canada. 

" Tliere Father de Carheil ac«piired universal esteem, as much 
l:»v his virtues as by his rare talents. Ibit it is a remarkable thing 
that this zealous missionarx' who had i'('cei\-e(l ;is his portion tlie 

1 Higtom ih la Nonvelle France, ParU, 17 tt. 'fotii'- Pn-iiihr, 403-404. 



81 

most }»ivciou.< gifts of iKitmx' and u'racc, never ]>ro(luce<l great 
fniit among tlie Indians. '' So true is it," savs Fatlier Cliaiie- 
\'oix on tliis point, "tliattlic eoiKpiest of sonls is solclv tlie 
work of graee : that not only natural talents 1»ut even the most 
snblime ^■irtnes, are eftieaeious in touehing hearts onlv so far as 
(rod himself niav gi\e them efficiency." Vet we must not tfiink 
that the zealons labors of Father de Carheil were entirely fruit- 
less. Truly ajtostolic men always do grx.xl in souls, at least an 
interior gooil, and which (rod alone knows. ]\[oreover the rep- 
utation which Father de Carheil enjoyed among French and In- 
ilians, •'who," says Charlevoix again, " agreed in regarding liim 
as a saint and a genius of the first order,"' and the perfect 
knowledge of the. languages which he possessed gave him au- 
thority over cultivated minds. Thus the famous Fluron, The 
Kat. that extraordinary man who cond)ined all the most emi- 
nent (|u:dities, had a singular esteem for Father de Carheil, who 
had won him to God and Christianity. *' At tirst The Eat used 
to say that he knew only two men of mind among the French, 
Count de Fi'ontenac and Father de Carheil. It is true that he 
knew others in the se<piel to whom he rendeivd the same jus- 
tice." 

Charlevoix makes frequent reference to this distinguished 
Huron, and vouches for the general opinion that no Indian had 
ever })Ossessed greater merit, a hner mind, more valor, prudence, 
or discernment in understanding those with whom he had to deal. 
His measures were always found wise, anddie was never witliout 
resource, hence he always succeeded. He was as famous for his 
eloquence as for his wisdom and valor. He never opened his 
lips in council without applause even from those who disliked 
him. He was not less In'illiant in conversation in pri^•ate, and 
they ()ften took })leasure in ])rovoking him to hear his re])artees, 
always animated, full of wit, and generally nnanswerahle. In 
this he was the only man in Canada wlio was a match foi- the 
Count de Frontenac who often invited him to his tahle to give 
his officers this ])leasure. 

It was undouhtedly, ccmtinues Charlevoix, his esteem for 
Father de Carheil which determined him to emlmice Cln-istiani- 
tv, or at least to live ill conformity to the maxims of the Gos- 



82 

pel. This esteem bcvaine a real attaelimeut au<l that religious 
could ohtain aiiythiuL!' from him. lie was verv jealous for the 
glory aud iuterast of his uatiou and was stronglv couvinced that 
it would hold its u'l'ound as Ioiil;; as it reuiaiued attached to the 
Christian reli.u'iou. He even preaclieil (|uite frequently at Mieli- 
ilemakinae, and never without fruit. 

His death (1T(U) caused a general aHliction and there was no 
one, French or Indian, who did not siiow tliat he felt it. His 
funeral, which took- place the next day, was magnilicent and 
singular. ]^1. de St. ()urs, lirst ca})tain, marched in front at the 
head of sixty men under arms; sixteen Huron braves attired in 
long beaver rol)es, their faces l)lackened, followed witli guns, 
marching in form. Then came the clergy, with six war chiefs 
carrving the bier, covered with a pall strewed with flowers, on 
which lay a chapeau and feather, a gorget and a sword. The 
brothers and children of the deceased were loehiud accompanied 
by all the chiefs of the nations; de A^audreuil, Governor of the 
citv, supporting ]\[adame de Champigny, closed the procession. 
At the end of the service there were two volleys of musketry, 
and a third when the body was committed to the earth. He 
was then interred in the great church at Montreal, and on his 
toml) this inscription was placed: Cy Git le Eat, Cref Hi'- 
KOX — Plere lies The Hat, a Huron Chief.' 

As regards the further history of French Missions among the 
Inxpiois, it is only necessary to add that in 1701, when a sepa- 
rate peace was concluded between the Five Nations and Can- 
ada, several of the old missionaries left (Quebec to raise their 
fallen altars on the former ground of their lal>ors and s:icritiees. 
But in the continued struggle between the English and French 
for the dominant influence, little was accomplished, when by 
the treatv of I'trecht, concluded in 1712, Louis XIV acknowl- 
edged the right of Fngland to the whole l^n-ritory occupied by 
the Five Nations and thus completely closed their cantons 
against tlie French Jesn it Fathei-s. 

1 The reader who would learn more of this remarkable Indian is referred to Li HnKlaii'x 
Vo!/(m--''i. lir, 189, 191 : also Shea's C'harlemix IV, Vi, 11, 57 ; V, 68, 110, 141, 143, 145-7, 
from which the above sketcli has bean derived. 



Thf- Sulpitian ^Bissian at I^uinte Bai}. 



In the Relation for 1668, mention is made ol' a colony of Cay- 
ngas wlio for fear of the Andastes had fixed their abode on the 
noi'tli side of Lake Ontario, at the western extremity of (.iaintc 
Bay. Th.e language of the Relation implies that Jesuit mission- 
aries had labored among them for some two years previous, Ijut 
no statement is made elsewhere as to tlie fact/ If they had a 
mission there in 1666, at the partial conclusion of peace between 
the French and the Iroquois, the Mohawks alone remaining hos- 
tile, it was surrendered at the re-opening of the missions in the 
several Iro(]^uois cantons in 1668 to the Society of Sulpitians, 
founded some twenty years before in the parish of St. Sulpice, 
Paris, by Jean Jacques Olier, and to which had been transferred 
the landed proprietorship of the island of Montreal. Two mem- 
bers of the order, Claude Trouve' and Francis de Salignac de 
Fenelon,'* who arrived at Montreal in June. 1667, were selected 
for the Mission (the first under the auspices of the Sulpitians 
among the Iroquois) and the following year proceeded to their 
field of labor which they reached Oct. 28, 1668. 

1 Sho;i"s Charlevoix 111, 110, note. 

- Trouve was of the diocese of Tours, and was onl}' a sub-deacon when he came to Canaela, 
He was ordained priest a short time after his arrival at Montreal. In 1G90, at the capture of 
Port Royal by the English Admiral Phibs. he was taken prisoner with a number of others, 
and one account says carried to Boston. But on tlie raising of the siege of Quebec, in the 
same year, bj'Admiral Phibs, Trouve was recovered by the French in an exchange of prison- 
ers. See Shea's Charlevoix III, 110, n.; lY, \17, n. 159, 18", n. 

3 Hennepin, in his Nouvelle Decouverte 169r, p. 14, says that this Abbe de Fenelon was the 
great archbishop of Cambray. This error was developed by Greenhow, in a paper reai be- 
fore the N. Y. Historical Society (Proceedings 1844). The life of tlie Canadian missionary 
has been clearly and well drawn by the Abbe Yerreau. in a series of articles in the Canadian 
Journal of Education, and by Mr. Faillon in his Histoire de la Colonic Prancaise. Pons de 
Salignac, Marquis de la Mothe Fenelon, married Feb. 20, 1639, Isabelie d' Esparsis do Lus- 
san, daughter of Marshal d' Aubeterre, and had eleven children, among them Francis the 
Canadian Missionary, who was born 1641 ; entered the Seminary of St. Sulpice in October, 
1665, and having received minor orders, came to Canada June 27, 1667. He was ordained 
priest June 11, 1668. The same year, as we have seen, he began a mission at Quinte Bay. 



84 

A C()iitcin])oi-aneoLi,s account of tlie attempt to Christianize the 
portion of the Cayugas who retired beyond Lake Ontario is found 
in the Rev. DoUier de Casson's' Histoire de Montreal, a work 
which remained in manuscript till it was issued by the Histori- 
cal Society of Montreal in 1869, as the fourth part of their Me- 
nioires. The portion devoted to the (^uintc Mission begins on 
p. 209. 

su:\i:\rA]iv of the mission of kente.- 

All that we have to say of anv importance on this mission is 
contained in a letter which lias been addressed to us by Mr. 
Trouve, who has always been an eye witness of all that passed 
there, not having abandoned it from the very beginning. The 
following is a faithful report of what he has written me: 

Since you desii'e me to tell you something in writing as to 
what has passed in our dear mission among the Iroquois, I will 
do so very willingly in spite of all the repugnance which I feel, 
never having desired anything till now, except that all that 
passed tliere should he known only by Hirn to whose glory all 
our actions should tend; and this is the reason why our gentle- 
men who have been employed in this work have always main- 
tained great silence. Hence it came that the Abbe de Fenelon, 
having been questioned one day by Monseigneur de Pestree, our 
bishop, as to what h,e might insert in the Relation concerning the 
Kente mission, made this reply ; " that the greatest favor lie could 
do us, was not to have us spoken of." 



He also founded an estiiblishnient at Oontilly for Indian children, to aid \vliich Frontonac in 
1673 granted him three small islands. In ](i~4, he preached the Easter sermon at Montreal, 
and La Salle reported some passage* to Frontenac, as painting him as a tyrant. The gov- 
ernor went to work with a high hand. Fenelon claimed all his rights, but wa.s sent back to 
France and died in ]t)Ti1. See Faillon's Histoire de la Colonic Francaise 111, pp. 171. 480. 
Francis de Salignac Fenelon, archbishop of Cambray, was the son of Pons de Salignac by 
his second wife, Louisa de Cropte, and was born August 6, 1651, and was, conse()uently, but 
seventeen when his brother went to Quinte.— Shea's Chnrlevoio: III, 100, n. 

' Dollierdc Casson. born about IG'.'O. bad Ijecn a captain in Turenne's Cavalry where he dis- 
l)layed a courage e(iuul to his immense strength ; for he is said to have been al)le to hold a 
man seated on each hand : Faillon's Histoire de la Colonic Francaise III. p. 150. He came 
to Canada about 1665. In 1670 he explored Lake Ontario. He was Superior of the Sulpitians 
at Montreal, till 1676, when his health compelled him to return to France. On his recovery 
he resumed his office at Montreal, and died Sept. 2."), 1701. Shea's Charlevoix III. 96, n. 

- Translated bv Dr. Sliea for the i)resent work. 



85 

It was in tlie year 16(i8 that tliey gave us orders to set out for 
the Iroquois ; and the principal place for our mission was as- 
signed to us at Kente, because that same year several j^ersons 
from that village had come to Montreal and had asked us posi- 
tively to go and instruct them in their countrj^ Their embassy 
was made in the month of June, but as we were expecting a Su- 
perior from France that year, oui- gentlemen thought best to beg 
them to return, not deeming it right to undertake an affair of 
this importance without awaiting his advice, so as to do nothing 
in the matter, except in conformity witli his orders. 

In the month of September the Chief of that village returned 
punctually at the time assigned to him, in oixler to endeavor to 
obtain missionaries and conduct them to his country. The 
Abbe da Quel us having by that time arrived as Superior of tliis 
community, it was referred to liim, and he very willingly gave 
his consent to this design, in consequence of which we applied 
to the Bishop who supported us by his formal act. As to the 
Governor and Intendant of this country we had iio difficulty in 
obtaining their consent, inasmuch as tliey had from the hrst 
fixed upon us for this enterprise. These absolutely necessary 
steps having been taken, we set out without delay, because we 
w^ere alread}' far advanced in the Autumn. At last we em- 
barked at La Chiue for Kentc on the 2d of October, accompanied 
by two Indians of the village to which we were going. After 
having already made some advance on our way and overcome 
the difficulties which are between Lake St. Louis and Lake St. 
Francis, which consist in some carrying places and dragging 
places for canoes, we perceived smoke in one of the bays on 
Lake St. Francis. Our Iroquois at lirst thought it was their 
own people who were on that lake. Under tliis belief they made 
for the lire, but we were greatly surprised, for we found two 
poor Indian women, utterly emaciated, who were on their way 
to the French settlements in order to escape from tlie slavery in 
which they had been for several years. It was forty days since 
they left the Onneiou village where they had been slaves. Dur- 
ing all that time they had lived only on some squirrels killed 
by a boy ten or twelve years old witli some arrows which these 
poor forsaken women had made for liini. (Jn our arrival we 



86 

made them a present of some l^iscuits wliich they at once threw 
into a little water to soften and to be able the sooner to appease 
their hunger. Their canoe was so small that they could scarce- 
ly sit in it without upsetting it. Our two Indians consulted to- 
gether what was to be done. They resolved to take these two 
poor victims and the boy with them to their village, and as the 
women feared they would be burned, as that is tlie usual pun- 
ishment for fugitive slaves among the Indians, they began to 
show their grief ; then I endeavored to speak to the Indians and 
induce them to let these women go, as tliey would soon he 
among the French. I told them that if they took these women, 
the Governor on being informed of it, would be convinced that 
there was no sure ground for peace, inasmuch as one of the ar- 
ticles of peace was that prisoners should be given up. All these 
threats had no effect on their minds. They gave us as a reason 
tliat the life of these women was imjiortant, that if the Indians 
of the village from which tliey had escaped, should happen to 
meet them they would tomahawk them at once. 

Then we advanced for four days through the most difficult 
rapids that there are on this route. After that one of our In- 
dians who carried a little keg of brandy to his country, di-ank 
some, and so much that he got drunk, for they do not drink 
otherwise or with any other object unless some one prevents 
them by force. Now as tliese people are terrible in their intoxi- 
cation, the prisoners thought it was all over with them, because 
Indians usually get drunk to commit their evil deeds. This Iro- 
quois having passed into this excess, entered into a furious and 
unapproachable state, and then he began to pursue one of these 
women. She, in her alarm, lied into tlic woods, preferring to 
die by starvation rather than by the hatchet of lier enemy. The 
next day this brutal fellow, surprised at tlie escape of his jM-ey, 
went to look for her in the woods, but in vain. At last, seeing 
that time pressed for us to reach his village, and that we had al- 
ready had some snow, he resolved to leave her in that])lace, with 
her child, and in order to make her die of hunger there, they 
wished to break their little canoe, because that place was an 
island in the midst of the river St. Lawrence; nevertheless by 
dint of prayers, they at our instance left lier this sole means of 



87 

safety. After our departure, when the Indian woman was some- 
what reassured, she eame out of her hiding place and then find- 
ing her canoe which we had made them leave for her, she em- 
barked in it with lier little bo}^, and safely reached Montreal, the 
ancient asylum of the unhappy fugitives. As for ourselves, 
having taken the other Indian woman five or six davs above 
that island, without her ever being able to obtain her liberty, at 
last meeting some Harons who were going to ti-ade at Montreal, 
our Indians reflected on what I had said that Mr. de Courcelle, 
for whom they iiad an extraordinary fear, would take ill their 
conduct, wdien he came to know it. This reflection induced them 
to deliver up the other women into the hands of these Ilurons to 
take her back to Montreal, which they did faithfully, as we as- 
certained the year after, when we learned wdiat had happened to 
the otlier poor woman and her little boy. 

By dint of paddling we arrived at last at Kentc on the feast 
day of St. Simon and St. Jude. We should have reached it 
the eve, but for our encountering some Indians, who, delighted 
to hear that we were going to Kente to reside there, made us a 
present of half a moose. Moreover the same afternoon after 
meeting these men who liad made us this present, being very 
near the caltins, we perceived in the michlle of a l>eautiful river 
which we had entered that day to shorten our route, an animal 
called liere Scononton, and in France called Chevreuil (deer), 
which gave us the pleasure of a very agreeable hunt, especiallv 
on account of its beauty and grace which much excel what we 
see in those of France. Its taste also is better and surpasses all 
the venisons of New France. 

Having arrived at Kente we were regaled there as well as it 
was possible by the Indians of the place. It is true that the 
feast consisted only of some citrouilles (squashes) fricasseed with 
grease and , which we found good; they are indeed excel- 
lent in this country and cannot enter into comparison with those 
of Europe. It may even be said that it is wronging them to 
give them the name of citrouilles. They are of a very great va- 
riety of shapes and scarcely one has any resemblance to those in 
France. There are some so hard as to require a hatchet if you 
wish to split them open before cooking. All have different names. 



One poor man liaving nothing to give us, was all day long 
iisliing in order to eatcli something for us, and having taken only 
a little pickerel presented it to iis, utterly discomfited and con- 
fused to have only that to give us. There is nothing more cap- 
able of mortifying an Iroquois than to have a stranger arrive in 
his country when he has nothing to offer Ihm ; they are very 
hospitable and very often go to invite those wlio arrive in their 
nation to come and lodge with them. It is true that since they 
frequent the Europeans, they begin to act in a different manner; 
but seeing that the English and Dutch sell everything to tliem, 
if it is only an apple, they like them less than the French who 
usually make them a present of l)read or other little things, when 
they come to our houses. 

No one could be received in a more friendly way than we 
were by these savages. Every one did what he could, even to 
a good old woman, who for a great treat threw a little salt in 
a sagamite or boiled Indian coi'u she was preparing for us. 

After having breathed a little the air of this countrj^. Mi", de 
Fcnelon and I deliberated what we should do on the subject of 
religion. We agreed to apply on this point to the chief of the 
villao-e called Rohiario, who had obliged us to <2;o to his country. 
In consequence of which we Avent to sav to him that he was per- 
fectly aware that he had come to seek us in order to instruct 
them, tluit we had come only for that purpose, that he ought to 
begin tt;) aid us in this design, that he should notify everyone in 
his village to send his children to our cabin in order to be in- 
structed This having succeeded as we had desired, sometime 
after we begged this same Indian to find it good and persuade 
his nation that we should baptize their children. 

To this that old man replied: ''It is said that this waslfing 
with water (so they call baptism) makes the childi'en die. If 
thou baptizest them and they die, they will say that thou art an 
Andastogueronon (who are their enemies) who has come into our 
village to destroy us." 

"Do ncjt fear," saitl I to liim, "tliey are, ill-advised who told 
thee that this baptism killed cliildren, for we l^rench are all bap- 
tized, and but for that we would not go to hea\'en, and yet thou 
kiunvest well we are very numerous." 



89 

Then he said: "Do as thou wilt; thou art master." 

We aceordinglv assigned a <hiy when we should confer this 
great sacrament. Several adults were present, and we ba[)tized 
about fifty little children, among whom Rohiario's daughter — 
his only one — was the first. She was named Mary, thus put- 
ting our first fruits under the protection of the Blessed Virgin. 
AVliat is to be remarked is, that as no one of the first fifty bap- 
tized died, they have no longer any difficulty against holy bap- 
tism, although several other childi-en have since died after baptism. 

In the spring of 1669, Mr. de Fenelon having gone down to 
Montreal for consultation as to some difficulties that he had, dur- 
ing the voyage in which he dragged his canoe himself, both as- 
cending and descending amid the most furious rapids, he bap- 
tized a child which died soon after. This greatly gladdened 
him amid his hardships which are so great that we should not be 
believ^ed, if we ventured to relate them, since in many places and 
very often you ascend waters more impetuous than a mill-fall, be- 
ing sometimes up to tiie armpits, walking barefoot over very cut- 
ting stones with which most of these waters are paved. 

Mr. de Fenelon on his return from Montreal brought with 
him another missionary who was Mr. d' Urfe. Then having ar- 
rived, he went to winter in the village of Grandatsetiagon, settled 
by detached Sonontouans, who had come to the noi'th shore of 
which we have charge; these people having asked us to go and 
instruct them, were delighted that this favor was granted them 
so soon after they had asked it. As for us, having been obliged 
to go with the Indians into the woods in order to extricate our- 
selves from the want of food in which we were because our 
settlement was new, l)y a singular providence I fell on the trail 
of some Indians who had passed shortly before, but we were 
surprised in the evening on seeing oui'selves arrive in a place 
where there was smoke. It was the very Indians whose trail 
we had been following in the snow. Approaching nearei", we 

saw some branches of trees, from which a little smoke 

arose: it was a poor Irorpiois woman wlio liad been delivered of 
two children, who were hidden under this wretched cabinao'C 
with some others. Then her husband waking up said to me: 
"Come Black-gown, she has been delivered of three children." 



90 

These poor people were reduced to the last necessity, for tliey 
had no food, and subsisted only by means of some porcupines 
which tliey killed and ate. The whole was not enough to satisfy 
two people, although they were more than nine or ten. On see- 
ing this poor woman I was all the more touched from my ina- 
bilit}' to render her any assistance, for we were at least as desti- 
tute as they. I asked her if her children were in good health. 
The husband answered that one of tlie two would soon die. The 
woman um-olled them both before me and I saw that they were 
half frozen, and beside one liad a fever and was dying. From 
this I took occasion to speak to them of our religion, telling 
them that I was ver_y sorr\- that these children were going to 
die without being ba[)tized, and that they would never go to 
heaven without it. After which I explained these things to 
them more in detail, till the husband interrupted me saying, 
" Courage, ba}itize them both, my brother, it is a pity not to 
go to heaven." This consent given, I baptized them both, and 
soon after a good number of these new Christians went to enjoy 
glory that same winter which was in 1670. 

Since then something occurred to Mr. d'LTrfe which had well 
nigh proved fatal to him, and which I wish to note. After say- 
ing holy mass he went out into the woods to offer his thanksgiv- 
ing, but struck in so far tliat he lost his way and could not get 
back. He spent a whole day and night seeking his way but un- 
able to find it, and at last after he was obliged to take his 

rest, which he did in a wolf pit which an Indian had made some 
time before. The next day in tlie midst of the anxiety which 
his position caused him, he had recourse to the late Mi-. Oilier, 
to whom he commended himself, and pursuing his march came 
straiglit to the village. For this he believed himself greatly in- 
debted to his protection. During his absence the Indians had 
run in all directions to seek him, and when he returned they all 
made a feast to tliank the Spirit, tliat he had not died in the 
woods. lie said that during his marcli he hod supported him- 
self l)y tliose bad mushrooms which grow around the foot of 
trees, and he assured us that he had found them good, so true 
is it that ajipetite gives the best taste to things which are the 
worst. 



91 

In 1671 this same niissiotiarv well nigh perished by another 
mischance. This was, that on his way to Montreal his canoe 
npset almost in the middle of the river, being under sail and a 
violent wind astern, but fortunatel}', althoagli he did not know 
how to swim, God preserved him, so that he clung so firmly to 
the canoe, that they liad time to help him, although they were 
at some distance. 

This last year Mr. d'LTrfe having made some stay in a village 
of our mission called Ganeraske, he took a resolution to go and 
visit some Indians settled about five leagues from it, to see 
whether there was uot something to do for religion. Tlie day 
after his arrival a ]ioor Iroquois woman was seized witli pains of 
lal)or. Now as these poor women are extremely shame-faced 
when they are in this state and strangers near, this poor woman 
resolved without saying anytiiing about it, to go out into the 
snow to be delivered, although it was in the very depth of win- 
ter. In fact soon after they heard the child cry, the women of the 
cabin, taken all by surprise, ran out to take the child and assist 
the mother. Mr. d'Urfe seeing that this shame luid produced so 
distressing a result, set out in all haste to return to Ganeraskc 
imd leave the cabin free ; but on the third day he determined to 
go back to tliat cabin with some Frenchmen, inasmuch as his 
chapel service had been left there. On his return to the place 
he found the Indian woman very low. The other women told 
him that after his departure she had had another child also, and 
had lost all her blood. Tln-ee quarters of an hour later, the sick 
woman called out aloud to one of her companions, "Give me 
some water," and she died at the very instant. Immediately af- 
ter, those who attended her thrust her into a corner of the cabin 
like a log, and threw her two living children near her, to be 
buried the next morning with their mother. Mr. d'Urfe wdio 
was near enough to hear, but not in a position to see what passed, 
asked what was the matter and why there was so much bustle. 
The Indians told him: Because that woman is dead. Then 
that gentleman having attested, with his own eyes, the dc^ath of 
the motlier, wished to guarantee the two children l)y ba})tisii!. as 
he did on the s^iot, and very seasonably, for one of tliem liied 
the same night. Tlie othei-, though quite well, was taken, by an 



92 

Iiidiiin the next day to Ijuiy alive with its mother. \[v. dUrfe 
said to him, ''Is that your metliod of doing, what are you think- 
ing of?" One of them rephed, " What would you have us do 
with it, who will nurse it?'' "Can you not find an Indian wo- 
man to suckle it ?'" replied Mi-. d'Urfe." " No," retorted the Indian 

Mr. d'Urfe seeing these things, begged for the child's life. He 
made it take some raisin juice and sugar syrup of which he left 
a small supply, in order to assist the orphan, while he wxnt to 
Kente, twelve good leagues distant, to seek a nurse — but he did 
so in vain — the Indian women, by a strange superstition, would 
not for anything in the world, suckle u dead woman's child. 
The missionary returning to see his orjjlian found it dead to the 
world and living to eternity, after having lived on this juice and 
svrup for several days. 

Such is the misery to which these poor Indians are reduced, 
which extends not only to women who arc pi-egnant, a great many 
of whom die f(jr want of wherewith to relieve them in childbed, 
but also to all sick women, for they have no delicacies and a poor 
patient in these nations is delighted to receive a missionary visit, 
hoping after the instruction which the latter is going to give 
him, he will make him a present of a prune, two or three raisins 
or a small piece of sugar as l)ig as a nut. 

We have had from time to time adults, whom God has so 
touched in their maladies, that after having ol)tained holy bap- 
tism, tiiev died in our hands with admirable sentiments of sor- 
row for their })ast sins. Where it is to be remarked that the 
Indians not having received like us this great grace of Christian 
education, they are not in compensation, punished like us at 
death by that great hardening of the heart, then ordinarily 
found among us, when we have lived badly; on the contrary, 
as soon as these people are prostrated by the disease, and by this 
means in a better state to reflect on the littleness of this life and 
the greatness of Him who is thus the IVIastcr of our days, if 
Providence at this time puts him in the hands of a missionary, 
he commonly dies witli all the appearance of a great regret for 
all the past. 

I must relate an example which ha])peiied thirs y(>ai', (1672) on 
this subject. Moreover there is something extraordinary in it 



93 

which deserves being; brousrht to the ho-ht. An Indian a short 
distance from us, and who scarcely cared to approach us, because 
he had no good opinion of rehgion, was seized this winter with a 
languishing malady, which at last brought him to the grave. 
Long before his death lie dreamed in his sleep, that he saw a 
large fine house at Kente entirely filled with missionaries, and 
that a young one among them baptized liim, which prevented 
his going to burn in a fire, and put him in a state to go to 
heaven. As soon as he awoke, he sent his wife to Kente for a 
priest to baptize him. Mr. d'Urfe having perceived tlie woman 
went to see what the case ]-eally was. The sick man having told 
him the affair just as I have related it, he began to instruct him 
solidly. The sick man heard him with great attention. After 
Mr. d'Urfe came to see me, and I went there in my turn. Dur- 
ing nearly three months we two made our visits in turn, the sick 
man always hearing us with ears so eager that we were extreme- 
ly touched while instructing him. It was nothing but I'egrets 
for sin, displeasure at having offending God, and sighs for his 
service. He kept incessantly soliciting baptism from us in or- 
der to go and see his Creator, Init we always deferred conferring 
it upon him, both on account of the cii'cumspection we practice 
on this point, and on account of the great advantage which the 
sick man would derive from his fervent desire in preparing to 
receive this sacrament ; at last after many importunities on the 
same subject, we granted him his earnest wish, when we saw 
that it was time to do so, and after having been washed with 
this salutary water, having edified every one of those who saw 
him practice so many beautiful acts of virtue, he died to live 
more happily, going to the place he sighed for in the last days 
of his life. 

Such good works constitute the sole consolation of missiona- 
ries amid all the difficulties they encounter in the instruction of 
these poor forsaken ones. I call them so even in regard to tlieir 
souls, because very often they have not all the aid that is neces- 
sary for them in spiritual things, oiperarii 'pauci^ raessis vero muUa. 

We have three villages^ in this extent of our mission without 

1 The villages mentioned in the narrative as under the care of the mission, are Kente, 
Ganeraske, Gandatsiagon, on the north side of Lake Ontario, between the present sites of 



■ 94 

t'ountiiig scattered cabins. There is not one of these villages 
where there is not enough ein})loy)nent for a good missionary. 
Our principal occupation is among the sick, and among tlie chil- 
dren who willingly attend the instructions given them, and even 
pray to Grod very well in their own language, and think them- 
selves well rewarded, if after their instruction, the missionary 
makes tliem a pi-esent of a prune or a raisin, or some other like 
delicacy, which serves us as Agnus Dei's and })ictures in France 
serve those who teach catechism. Tlie fathers and mothers show 
no opposition to the instruction of their children. On tlie con- 
trary they are vain of it, and frequently even solicit it froni tlie 
missionaries. I am obliged to render this testimony to the truth, 
that the Indians, barbarous as they are, and without the light of 
the gospel, do not commit as many sins as inost Christians." 

This is a little sketch of all that has passed in our mission, as 
far as memory can supply it, iur I never applied myself to di-aw 
up an}^ remarks, knowing well that God is a great light, and that 
when he wishes things known which concern his glory, he would 
sooner make the trees and stones speak. 

I have not taken any great pains to describe the little ti'ials 
whicli the Kente missionaries have felt, nor the privations in which 
they have frequently h)und themselves, since .the time when this 
enterprise was undertaken. What I may add to Mr. Trouve's 
letter is that the Kente missionaries will suffer much less in the 
future than in the past, inasmuch as the gentlemen of the Semi- 
nary of St. Sulpice have supplied the place with cattle, hogs and 
poultry, which the missionaries have transported thither with 
great difficulty. If the King at any time orders any enterprise 
on Nontario, as the place seems to ]-e(piire in oi-der to keep the 
Iroquois in the last submission and have all their peltries which 

Kiiiu-toii ;md Toronto, iinrt a-; iiulicatud on tlic carlier^t maps nearly eqni-distant from each 
other. Kcntii, the seat of tlie nii-sion, wa^ at the wesiterh extremity of Quhite Bay, a long, 
irregnlar, winding body of water divided from Lake Ontario by the peninsula of Prince Ed- 
ward, and indented on every side by small bays and coves, offering anchorage and shelteu^ 
for such vessels as navigate the Lakes. The lake harbor at this point is now known as 
Presque Isle, iind is al)ont 70 miles west by south fiom Kingston. (Janeraske was located at 
or near the present harboi- of Port Un\w, the capitol of Din-ham county, at the south termin- 
us of the Midland railway, and o;i tlie Grand Trunk Line, GO miles east by north of Toronto. 
Gandatsiagon, a Seneca village, corresp >nds to Whitby, also a jiort of entry, the capital of 
Ontario county, south terminus of the Whitby and Perry railway, and on the Gr.ind Trunk 
line. 30 miles east by noitli of Toronto. The harbor is said to be one of the bust on the lake. 



95 

tliev come and obtain fi-om our territories, and afterwards carry 
to other nations than onrs, those appointed to execute and es- 
tabhsh it will he able to receivi; great s])iritaal as well as tem- 
poral aid at Kente by means of the labors and outlay* made by 
tlie gentlemen of St. Sul[)ice in that })lace. I do not name in 
this history those of the Seminaiy who bear the expenses at 
Montreal and Kente, although they are great and heav-y, be- 
cause I do not venture to do so. If those who read this hnd 
cause to blame, let them find it right that I submit to their con- 
demnation, and not incur the displeasure of these gentlemen who 
would very soon have effaced their names liad I put them on 
paper." 

It will be remembei'ed that Messrs. de Fenelon and Trouve, 
just before entering on tlie Kente mission in 1068, were ordained 
to the priesthood by BL-^hop Laval, the iirst Bishop of New 
France, who also supi)orted them by his formal act, in the instruc- 
tions alread^' referred to, and which are herevv^ith given as an 
important part of the history. The document is from the Begis- 
ter of the Archbisho]:)ric of Quebec, as in Memoirs of tlie Mon- 
treal Historical Society, iv, pp. 260-3.. 

INSTliUCTION FOK OUR WELL BELOVED IX OUE LORD, CLAUDE 
TROUVE AND FRANCIS DE SALAGNAC, PRIESTS, GOING ON A 
MISSION TO THE IROQUOIS SITUATED ON THE NORTH SHORE OF 
LAKE ONTARIO. 

I. Let them be well persuaded that l)eing sent to laljor in the 
conversion of the infidels, they have the most important empjlov- 
ment there is in the Church, which should oblige them to ren- 
der themselves worth y instruments of God, to perfect themselves 
in all the virtues proper to an Apostolic Missionar3^' often medi- 
tating in imitation of St. Francis Xavier, the patron and ideal of 
missionaries, these W(^rds of the Gospel: "What doth it profit a 
man to gain the whole world and lose his own soul.'" 

II. Let them endeavor to avoid the two extremes, which are 
to be feared in tliose who devote themselves to the convei'sion of 
souls, excessive hop^e or excessive despair. Those who hope for 
too much are often the first to despair of everything, in view of 
the great difficulties met with in the undertaking of converting 
the inhdels, which is rather the work of God, than man's indus- 



96 

try. Lat them remtMnber that the seed of the Word of God 
bears fruit in patience. Those who have rot this patience are 
endangerei] (after having scattered much iire in the lieginning) 
of losing courage at last, and abandoning the undertaking. 

III. The language is necessary to act with the Indians. Yet 
it is one of the least parts of a good missionary, just as in 
France, speaking French well is not what makes one preach with 
fruit. 

IV. The talents which constitute good missionaries, are 1st, 
To be full of the Spirit of God; that Spirit must animate our 
words and our hearts. " Out of tlie abundance of the heart the 
mouth speaketh." 2d, To have great prudence in the choice 
and order of the things necessary to be done either to enlighten 
the mind, or to bend the will ; all that does not contribute to this 
are' words lost. 3d, To pay great attention not to lose the mo- 
ments for the salvation of souls, and t(j make up for the negli- 
gence which often creeps over Catechumens, for as the de^'il on 
his side "goeth about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he mav 
devour," so it is necessary that we should be vigilant against 
his efforts with care, mildness and love. 4th, To have nothing 
in our life or our manners which may seem to contradict what 
we say, or which may infuse indisposition into the minds and 
hearts of those whom we wish to win to God. 5th, We must 
make ourselves loved by our mildness, patience and charity, and 
gain minds and hearts to sain them to God; often a shani word, 
an impatience, a repelling look will destroy in a moment what 
we have done in a long time, (kh. The S})irit of G(xl requires 
a peaceful recollected heart and not a restless heart full of idle 
thoughts. It requires a cheerful, modest countenance ; it is nec- 
essary to avoid railleries and unbridled laughter and in general 
all that is contrary to a holy and. cheerful modesty, "Let your 
modesty be known to all men.'' 

Y. Their main^care m the actual condition they are in, will 
1)6, as far as po.ssible, to let no Indian die without baptism ; let 
them take care nevertheless to act always with prudence and re- 
serve on occasion in regard to the baptism of adults, and even of 
childi'en not in danger of death. 



97 

VL In the (loul)t whether an adnlt has l)een ali'eady 1)aptizeil, 
let him be baptized conditional!)^ and to make more sure of his 
salvation, canse him to make a general confession of his whole 
life, instructing him beforehand on the means of doing it well. 

VIT. Let them take great care to enter in writing the names 
of the baptized, their fathers and mothers, and even some other 
relatives, the day, month and year of the baptism. 

VIIL When they have occasion let them write to the Jesuit 
Fathers, who are employed in the Iroqnois missions in order to 
resolve their doubts and to receive from their long experience 
the necessar\^ light for theii" conduct. 

IX. They will also take great care to inform us, by all the oc- 
casions that offer, of the state of their mission, and the progress 
they make in the conversion of souls. 

X. Let them often read these counsels, and the otlier Memoirs 
of Instructions which we have given them in order to refresh the 
memory and observe them well, persuading themselves well that 
thereon depends the happy success of their mission. 

FRANCIS, Bishop of Petnea. 

A contemj'joraneous letter of Bisho}) Laval to Mr. de Fcnelon, 
under date of Sept. 15,' 1068 (Archives of the Seminary of Mon- 
treal. Faillon, Hist, de la Colonic Francaise, III, pp. 192-3) prob- 
ably accompanied the above instrnctions and is in the following 
terms : 

To OUR WELL-BELOVED IN OUR LORI), FrANCIS DE SaLAO 

NAC, PRIEST. — It is With a singular satisfaction and consolation 
of our soul that we liave seen the fervor and courage with which 
yon devote yourself to the conversion of the heathen nations, 
and that yon have made known to us the sentiments which God 
has given you to go, before this winter, to a place situate tt)wards 
the outlet nearest to us of the lake called Ontario, north shore, to 
labor there for the conversion of a nation, which has been set- 
tled there for al)ont three years, and to seek there the straved 
sheep which heretofore the Fathers of the Society of Jesus had 
brought to the fold of our Lord. 

We give you power and authority to labor for the conversion 
of this people, to confer the sacraments on them and generallv 



98 

to do ;ill tliut voii shall deem proper for the estubhsliuient of the 
faith and the iuerease of this new Christian body ; enjoining you, 
however, to be subordinate in all these funetions, to our well be- 
loved Claude Trouve, priest, whom we associate with you for the 
same design, and to receive from him in all that shall regard tlie 
salvation of sovds, direction and powei'. We commend yon to 
preserve always a very close connection and intimate union with 
the missionary religious of the society of Jesus, in ordei" that 
having all only one same heart and one same spirit, it may please 
tlie Sovereign Pastor of souls to make us all partakers of the 
same grace and same Idessings. This is what we implore him to 
grant you through the intercession of his most holy Mother, and 
of the Blessed Saint Joseph, especial Patron of this rising church. 

Faillon, in his account of the mission, follows Dollierde Casson 
giving few other facts. Cou'.celle and Talon made them a grant 
of lands at Kentc bay to settle and clear, with right of fishing in 
the bay and lake of that name, in the Tanaouate river, and in 
Lake Ontari(_) fi'om Kente to Gagouiou bay. (Letter of Mr. Ti-on- 
son to Mr. Ti-ouve June 1, 1(381. Archives of Seminary of 
Montreal, October 5th, 1679.) They spent the winter of 1668 
at Kente. In the spring Fenelon went to Montreal and Quebec. 
He returned with Mr. Lascaris and Mr. d'Urfe. 

The Sulpitians having resolved to maintain the mission, sent 
up cattle, etc., witli laborers to clear the land, and other work- 
men to build a farm with a large house, which was supplied with 
all agricultm-al implements, furniture, provisions and other nec- 
essaries lor such a settlement. (Letter of Mr. Tronson, April 
25th, 1675. Letter of Mr. Brctonvilliers, May, 1675, April 5th, 
1677.) 

'• Besides Mi". Trouve, Mr. de Fenelon and AL-. dTJrfe, other 
priests of the Seminary wei'C eiuployed on this mission, and 
among them Mi-, de Cice and Mr. Mariet.' It was perhaps some 

1 In explanation of the difference of title as ai)i)lie(l to the Jesuit Fathers and the Sulpitian 
missionaries it oiiijlit to be said that the Sulpitians are a commuuity of secular priests, and 
devoted esi)ecially to the dii-ection of tlieological seminaries. They are not a religious or- 
der, as the Jesuits, bound by vows ; and they are invariably spoken of as Mr. Trouve, Mr. 
de Fenelon, etc., (the Rev. being used in English), never as Father. This title is properly 
used only of members of a religions order, and it is a misnomer to apply it, as it is common 
with the ue\vsi)apers. to every secular priest. lu England, until the Reformation, the secu- 
lar priest had tlie title Sir. like a Knight. 



99 

one of tliese missionaries who composed a manuscript, foi'inerly 
preserved in tlie Mazarin Library entitled : "Abridgment of tlie 
life and manners, and other particulars of the Iroc^uois nation 
which is divided into five villages and tribes, Agnies, Onneiouts, 
Nontagnes, Goyoouans, Sonnontouans." Faillon, Ilistoire de la 
Colonic Francaise III, p. 198, note. 

This completes the Sulpitian mission at Kente. When Fort 
Catarocouy was erected. Recollects were ajipointed cha])lains, 
and the Sulpitians apparently withdrew.' AVhen a clergyman 
speaking Iroquois was needed there, Father Milet was sent np, 
the same who with de Carheil and Gamier reestaljlished the 
Onondaga mission in 1668. Nothing is said of the chapel, if 
any was erected by the Sulpitians, or of the condition and num- 
bers of the little flock they finally gathered ; but of the devotion 
and heroism of tliesc self-denying men the record of their labors 
gives abundant testimony. It is a record which, like that of the 
earlier and more extended effoi'ts of the Jesuit missionaries oc- 
cupying the larger share of our attention in these chapters, will 
never lose its charm, nor cease to command the respect and ad- 
miration of men irrespective of religious opinion or prejudice, 
though all trace of their work has passed away with the disap- 
pearance of the once powerful nations for wdiose conversion they 
toiled wnth such zeal and self-sacrifice. 

1 The first Recollect missionaries sent to the (ininre mission were the famous Father Louis 
Hennepin and Father Luke Buisset. The former visited the cantons in New York, copied 
Bruyas' dictionary, and returned to Fort Frontenac (Cataroucouy). His missionary career 
was, however, short. He soon set out with La Salle on his voyage of discovery. Father 
Luke, a man of piety and erudition t^vice wintered with the Indians and labored zealously 
for their conversion, as Le Clercq assures us (vol. II, p. 114 ; Hennepin New Discov. p. 19, 
!ii77). He was succeeded apparently about 1668, by Father Francis Wasson of whom Le 
Clercq speaks in terms of eulogy, and who remained as Chaplain of the fort and missionary 
of the Iroquois for six years (Le Clercq, Relation Gaspesie, 565). His labors in the latter 
capacity could not, however, have been great, for when Denonville required an interpreter 
at the place, he was compelled to substitute Father Milet as chaplain, a step which would 
have been unnecessary had Father Wasson spoken the Cayuga dialect. It may, therefore, 
be concluded that the mission was virtually abandoned in 1687. Shea's //«.</. Catholic Mi$- 
tiioiis aiaoiKj Indian Tribes, U. S. p. 303, n. 



A PPENDI X. 



HONNONOUARORIA :' THE DREAM FEAST OF THE 

IROQUOIS. 



One of the most noted of the Iroquois festivals was the Dream Feast, which, 
while it lasted, was one scene of frenzy. The dream whose behest must be 
obeyed to the letter, was to the Indian a universal oracle; and on this occasion li- 
cense was given to every one who may have dreamed of any thing involving his 
welfare to demand of others that they should tell him his dream and satisfy his 
desire as thus indicated. 

The following description of this feast, called HoNNONOUARORiA, is by Father 
Claude Dablon, who with Father Joseph Chaumonot, witnessed its observance in 
1656, the year of their embassy to Onondaga to open the way for the Missions in 
the several Iroquois Cantons: 

"It began with the 22nd of February and lasted three days. Immediately on 
the proclamation of the Feast by the old men of the village, to whom this duty 
is entrusted, the whole population, men, women and children, rush from their 
cabins through the streets in the wildest confusion, but by no means after the 
fashion of an European masquerade. The larger part are nearly naked and seem 
insensible to cold, which is almost intolerable to the warmly clad. Certain ones 
carry with them a plentiful supply of water, and it may be something more hurt- 
ful, to throw upon those who come in their way. Others seize fire brands, live 
coals with ashes, whicli they fling about without regard to consequences. Others 
still, occupy themselves in smashing pots, plates and the small household utensils 
they happen to encounter. A number are armed with swords, spears, knives, 
hatchets, clubs, which they make as if they would hurl at the first comer ; and 
this is kept up until some one is able to interpret and execute the dream. 

" It sometimes occurs, however, that the skill of each and all fails him in di- 
vining their meaning, since instead of proposing the matter plainly, they rather 
conceal it in enigma, chanting a jumble of ambiguous words or gesticulate in si- 
lence as in pantomime. Consequently they do not always find an (Tldipus to 
solve the riddle. At the same time they obstinately persist in their demand 
that the dream shall be made known, and if the diviner is too slow, or shows 
an unwillingness to risk an interpietation, or makes the least mistake, they threat- 
en to burn and destroy. Nor are these empty threats, as we found out to our 
cost. One of these mad fellows slipping into our cabin demanded in a bois- 
terous manner that we should tell him his dream and that at all hazards he must 
be satisfied. Now though we declared in the outset that we were not there to 
obey these dreams, he kept up his noise and gabble huig after we had left the 
spot and retired to a cabin in the open field to avoid the tunuilt. At length one 

1 Oiinonhouara, l;i cervclle. (biniiis).— lii'uyas. Mohawk Ra((huL<. Souiu rciuler the word 
•■ La ccrvcUe renverscc,"— '• tlie disonleri'd l)raiii." 



103 

of those with wliom we lodged, wearied with his outcry, went to ascertain wliat 
would satisfy him. The furious creature replied : " I kill a Frenchman ; that is 
my dream, and it must be done at any sacrifice." Our host then threw him a 
French dress as though the clothes of the dead man, at the same time assuming 
a like fury, saying that he would avenge the Frenchman's death, and that his 
loss would be that of the whi)le village, which he \\'ould lay in ashes, beginning 
with his own cabin. Upon that, he drove out parents, friends, servants, the 
whole crowd gathered to witness the issue of this hubbub. Having his house to 
himself he bolted the door and set fire to the interior in every part. At the in- 
stant that the s]iectators were looking to see the cabin in flames, Father Chaumo- 
not, on an errand of charity, arri\'ed, and seeing the smoke issuing from the bark 
house, exclaimed, "this must not be," — burst open the tloor, threw himself in the 
midst of the smoke and flame, subdued the fire, and gently drew our host from 
his peril, contrary to the expectations of the whole populace who had supposed 
that the demon of dreams was irresistible. The man however continued to man- 
ifest his fury. He coursed the streets and cabins, shouting at the top of his voice 
that everything should be set on Are to avenge the death of the Frenchman. 
Tiiey then off"ered him a dog as a victim to his anger and to the god of his passion. 
" It is not enough," he said " to efface the disgrace and infamy of the attempt to 
slay a Frenchman lodged in my house." They then made a second offering simi- 
lar to the first, when he at once became calm and retired by himself as if nothing 
had occurred. 

" It is to be remarked in i:)assing, that as in their wars they make more of the 
spoil taken from the prisoner than they do of his life, so when one dreams that 
he must kill any one, he is often content with the clothes of the one to be slain, 
in place of his person. Thus it was that the Frenchman's dress was given to the 
dreamer, with which he was entirely appeased. But to pass to other instances. 

" The brother of our host had a part also in the peiformances (juite as promi- 
nent as any of the others He arrayed himself to personate a Satyr, covering 
himself from head to foot with the husks of Indian corn. He dressed up two 
women as veritable Furies, willi their hair parted, tlieir faces blackened with 
with charcoal, each covered wiili the skin of a wolf and armed with a light 
and a heavy stick. The .Satyr, and his companions thus cijuippecl, came about 
our cabin singing and howling with all their might. He mounted the roof 
followed by the shrews, and there played a thousand pranks, shouting and 
screaming as if everything was going to destruction. This being over, he came 
down and marched soberly tlirough the village, preccdeil by the«!e women who 
cleared the way with their sticks, Ijreaking indiscriminately whatever lay in their 
path. If it is true, that there is no man who has not at least a grain of madness, 
and the nuniber of fools is infinite, it must be confessed that these people have 
each more than half an ounce. But this is not all. 

" Hardly had our Satyr and his companions disappeared, when a woman threw 
herself into our cabin, armed with an arquebuse, which she had obtained through 
her dream. She sang, shouted, screamed, declaring tiiat .she was about to go to 
the war against the Cat Nation ; that she would fight and bring back prisoners, 
calling down a thousand imprecations and maledictions if the thing did not come 
out as she had dreamed. 



10-i 

" A warrior followed this Amazon armt-d with a long bow, arrows and spear in 
hand. He danced, he sang, he threatened, then all at once rushed at a woman 
who was just coming into the cabin to see the comedy, and contented himself 
with seizing her by the hair and placing the spear at her throat, careful lest he 
should inflict any wound, and then retired to give place to a prophet who had 
dreamed that it was in his power to discover secrets. He was most ridiculously 
accoutred, holding in his hand a sort of rod, which served him to point out the 
spot where the thing was concealed. It was needful, nevertheless, that he should 
have an assistant who carried a vase filled with I know not what kind of liciuor, 
of which he would take a mouthful, and sputter or blow it out on the head, the 
face, the hands, and on the rod of the diviner, who after this, never failed to dis- 
cover the matter in question. 

'' Next came a woman with a mat which she held in her hand, and moved 
about as if she were catching fish. Tliis was to indicate that they had to give 
her some fish because of her dream. Another woman simply hoed up the 
ground with a mattock, which meant that some one would give her a field or 
piece of land that she thought was justly her right. .She was satisfied however 
with the possession of five holes in which to plant Indian corn. 

"One of the principal men of the village presented himself in a miserable 
plight. He was all covered with ashes ; and because no one had told his dream 
which demanded two human hearts, he succeeded in prolonging the festival for 
a day and a night, and during that time did not cease the repetition of his mad- 
ness. He came to our cabin where there were a number of fires, and seating 
himself before the first, threw into the air th j coals and ashes. He repeated this 
at the second and third fire-place ; but when he came to our fire, he refrained 
from the performance out of respect to us. 

" Some came fully armed, and as if actually engaged in combat, they went 
through the positions, the war cry, the skirmish, as when two armies meet 
each other. Others marched in bands, danced and put on all the contor- 
tions of body, like those with evil possessions. But we should never get through 
with the narrative if we were disposed to rehearse all that was done through the 
three days and nights in which this folly lasted, with one continual ujiroar, in 
which one could not so much as think of a moment's rejiose. 

" Nevertheless, it did not hinder the prayers from being made as usual in our 
chapel, nor the manifestation of God's love toward this poor people in certain 
miraculous cases of healing accorded by virtue of holy baptism, of which we can- 
not now speak*; and thus we close the account of the homage they render to their 
dreams." A\-lalion 1656, chaji.. IX, 26-29. 



WAR FEAST OF THE IROQUOIS. 



In chapter X of his Relation (1656) Dablon describes this feast, the immedi- 
ate occasion of which was the contemplated war with tlie Eries alluded to in the 
account of the establishment of the missions among the Iroquois as given in the 
preliminary chapter of this work. 

" We saw in the latter part of January (1656) the ceremony which takes place 
every winter, in their preparations for war, and which serves to stimulate their 
courage for the approaching conflict. First of all the war kettle, as they call it, 
is hung over the fire as early as the preceding autumn, in order that each of the 
allies going to the war may have the opportunity to throw in some precious 
morsel, to be kept cooking through the winter, by which act they are solemnly 
pledged to take part in the proposed enterprise. The kettle having been kept 
steadily boiling up to the month of February, a large number of warriors, Sene- 
cas as well as Cayugas, gathered to celebrate the war feast which continue . for 
several nights in succession. They sang their war songs, danced and went 
through all possible contortions of body and expressions of countenance, protest- 
ing the while, that never should they retire from the combat, but fight to the 
death, whatever tortures they might suffer, before they would yield an inch of 
ground. At the same time that they make this boast of their courage, they hurl 
at one another fire brands and hot ashes, strike each other heavy blows, and 
burn one another to show they do not fear the very worst the enemy can do. 
Indeed, one must remain firm and suffer himself to be bruised or burned by his 
nearest friends without flinching ; otherwise he is regarded as a miserable cow- 
ard. 

This being done. Father Chaumonot was invited to put something into the 
war-kettle as a mark of favor toward the enterprise. He replied that this ac- 
corded with his own desire, and accommodating himself to their customs, he as- 
sured them the French would put powder under the kettle. This pleased them 
greatly. 

The next thing they do, by way of supporting their courage, respects the medi- 
cines relied upon to heal the wounds they may receive in battle ; and to ensure their 
virtue for this purpose all the sorcerers ox jongleurs oi the town who are the medi- 
cine men of the country, come together, that by their incantations they may impart 
to these medicines an efficacy and healing power which is not natural to them. 
The chief of these sorcerers places himself in the midst of his fellows, surrounded 
by a vast crowd of people ; then elevating his voice he declares that he is about to 
infuse into herbs or roots, which he has in u bag, the power to heal wounds of 
every description. Whereupon he sings with a full, clear voice, while the others 
respond by repeating the words of the song, until the healing virtue has entered 
into the roots ; and to prove that this has been really accomplished, he does two 



106 

things : First he scarifies his own lips, from which the blood is allowed to flow ' 
until it drops upon his chin, when he applies, in the sight of ail the crowd, the 
remedy to the wound, at the same time adroitly sucking the blood from his lips, 
upon which the people seeing that the blood has ceased to flow, raise a great 
shout as if the medicine had suddenly healed the wound. The second thing he 
does is to demonstrate that his roots have not only the power to heal, but also to 
rgstore life. To prove this he draws from the bag a small dead squirrel that he 
retains the control of by a secret attachment at the end of the animal's tail, and 
placing it upon his arm so that every one can see that it is really dead, he ap- 
plies the medicinal root, and at the same moment skillfully drawing upon the 
string makes the animal re-enter the bag, to all appearance as if it had been re- 
stored to life. He produces the little creature again, and causes him to move 
about at will, much as the French jugglers manage their puppets. There is 
scarcely one of the vast crowd that does not elevate his shoulders in admiration 
of the wonderful virtues of the medicines which have wrought such miracles 

Immediately after this marvelous prodigy the chief sorcerer goes through the 
streets of the village, followed by the crowd of people, shouting at the top of his 
voice and parading his roots as empowered with this strange efficacy — the whole 
effect of which is to take from the younger warriors all dread of being wounded 
in battle, since they may have at hand a remedy so sovereign. It is not in 
America alone but in Europe also, that people seem to take pleasure in being 
deceived. If these incantations make no impression upon the spirits, they cer- 
tainlyJiave succeeded in inspiring an admirable courage for the war already deter- 
mined against the nation of the Fries." 



